Second Chance as a Pirate
by kingdom cure
Summary: Instead of becoming one with Sora after losing her battle against Roxas, Xion was given a second chance, as a pirate. However, something happened to her when she was reborn. Join Xion and the Straw Hat Pirates as they advance to the Grand Line and as Xion both regain her memories and find out about the weird power that's hidden within her.
1. Reborn

Xion weakly fell to her knees as she staggered out of the black vortex. It was time for her to go. She knew that. Her spiky, blonde-haired friend, Roxas, staggered towards the girl, holding his head in pain.

"Who are you... again?" he asked. "It's weird. I feel like I'm forgetting something important."

"You'll be... better off now... Roxas..." Xion weakly said. Her knees gave up on her and she collapsed. Roxas caught her in his arms before she could hit the ground. Her body started to glow a bit and fragments slowly floated off of her body.

"Am I... the one who did this to you?" Roxas asked.

"No," Xion answered, shaking her head. "It was my choice... to go away now. Better that... than to do nothing... and let Xemnas has his way. I belong with Sora. And now... I'm going back... to be with him. Roxas... I need you to do me a favor. All those hearts that we've captured... Kingdom Hearts... set them free."

"Kingdom Hearts?" Roxas repeated. "Free them?" His eyes widen when he saw crystals sprouting from the girl's legs.

"It's too late.. for me to undo my mistakes..." Xion weakly continued. "But... you can't let Xemnas... have Kingdom Hearts. You can't. Good-bye, Roxas. See you again. I'm glad... I got to meet you. Oh... and of course... Axel too. You're both my best friends. Never forget... that's the truth..." WHen Xion said that last part, her left hand slowly reached to touch Roxas's cheek. The last of her strength slowly left her and her arm drop while her eyes slid shut.

She heard Roxas gasp and held her hand and shouted "No!", when he remembered who she is.

"Xion! Who else will I have ice cream with?" he asked and pleaded. Unfortunately, the crystals spread faster as a bright light slowly engulfed her. She felt herself floating away as her conscious fades away.

* * *

"Where am I?" she thought out loud. "Am I inside of Sora? Then I guess, as the holder of his precious memories, I have to become one with him as well."

"**Do you really think that?**" a voice asked, surprising her.

"What? Who's there?" Xion asked, trying to find the voice.

"**Do you wish for a second chance?**" the voice asked, ignoring the girl's question.

"A... second chance?" Xion repeated. "Who are you? And what do you mean by a second chance?"

"**I mean, 'do you wish for a second chance in life?'**" it replied. "**You were originally a puppet. Yet, you denied that fact and continued life the way you wanted it until you found out the truth. While you continued on with your life, you somehow develop your own person and created your own heart. For that, I believe this isn't how you should die, nor do I believe that you should end you life this early.**"

"But... what about Sora?" Xion protested. "If I don't return his memories to him, he will never wake up!"

"**Did you not hear me?**" the voice asked. "**As I said, you develop your own person and created your own heart. That is why you are here. Sora's memories have already returned to him and I'm giving you a chance to be reborn elsewhere. Your memories, however, will sleep within your heart, but they will slowly be reawaken, in time. And when the time comes, you will see your friends again, just as you promised.**"

"..." Xion was silent for a moment. She doesn't know this voice, yet it knows her. Not only that, but to think that she made her own heart. How did that happen? Was it because of her friends? Thinking about it for a few more seconds, she made up her mind. "I accept the offer. But, can you at least tell me who you are or where you'll send me?"

"**I am the heart of all hearts,**" the voice replied. "**I'm also the ultimate light, yet the ultimate darkness. And as for where I'll send you, let's just say that it's at a Great Age of Pirates. And Xion, although you are a Keyblade weilder, I believe it's best for you to go with the natural course of the world I'll be sending you in, for that world, will be your new home.**"

"Wait. What?"

"**Also Xion, know that I will be watching over you.**"

Like before, Xion was engulfed by a bright light and fell unconscious.

* * *

Somewhere on an island in the East Blue, a young girl was looking for some herbs with her father. While searching, she saw an unconscious human in a black coat. Worried about this person, the young girl hurried to her father and pleaded him to hurry to where she saw the person. When they arrived, her father's eyes widen.

"This doesn't look good," he muttered. "Miki, help me bring this girl home."

"Okay, father," the girl, identified as Miki, nodded.


	2. Xion's Dive to the Heart

*Xion's Inner World*

'_Where am I?_' Xion asked herself. She regained conscious and the first thing she sees is herself... floating in darkness. '_Where is this place? How did I get here?_' Asking herself that, Xion tried to remember the last thing that happened to her. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember a thing. '_Why can't I remember? I don't get it. Did I lose my memories? Or were they stolen from me?_'

"**Why hello there, Xion,**" a voice spoke, startling the girl.

"Wh... who's there?!" she demanded. "And is Xion... by any chance... me?"

"**That's right,**" the voice replied. "**That is your name, Xion.**"

"Then... whoever you are, can you tell me more about myself?!" she pleaded. Who could blame her? Anyone would want to know a lot of things about themselves.

"**... I'm afraid I cannot tell you anymore about yourself,**" the voice told her. "**If you want to remember who you are, then you should wake up.**"

"Wake up? What do you mean by that? And who and where are you?"

"**I am everywhere, yet I am nowhere,**" the voice riddled. "**As for my meaning, why don't you find out for yourself? But first...**" When the voice left that sentence hanging, as Xion landed on the floor, or so it felt to her feet, it started to glow. The light was so bright, she had to put her arms up to cover her eyes.

When Xion slowly put her arms down, she found herself standing in the center of a platform. '_Wha-?!_' "What is this?!" she asked to no one in particular. The moment that question was asked, three pillars rose from ahead of her, to her left and to her right. Floating on those pillars were a sword, a shield and a staff. "What are these?" she then asked.

"**Power sleeps within you,**" the voice informed. "**If you give it form, it will give you strength. Choose wisely.**"

"... Can you tell me what each of these weapons represent?" Xion asked with caution.

"**The sword represents the power of a warrior,**" it began to explain. "**Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. The shield represents the power of a guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. And the staff represents the power of mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Now Xion, which will you choose and which will you give up in exchange?**"

'_What should I choose?' Xion thought. 'If I take the sword, will it make me evil? Then again, why would it be here if it brings destruction? I want to protect those that are important to me. Not only that, I also feel like I never use my full strength for anything. Which one should I choose? And which one should I throw away?_' Thinking about it, she finally decided on the weapons.

Xion ran forward and took the sword. "I choose the sword." When she announced that, she then ran toawrds the pillar with the staff. "In exchange, I give up the staff." With those items chosed, both of those and the shield disappeared.

"You chose the power of a warrior and gave up the path of mystic," the voice informed the obvious. "Is this really the form you choose?"

"Yes," she replied immediately. "If you're wondering about the sword, it can't just be used for terrible destruction, can it?"

"**Well said. Now then, on to the next level.**" When the voice said that, the platform started to break. Once it was completely shattered, Xion fell, only to safely land on the platform below the first.

'_Now what?_' she thought. Suddenly, the sword from earlier appeared in her hands.

"**You've regained the power to fight,**" the voice informed. "**There will be many times when you will fight, whether you want to or not.**"

Before Xion could ask what the voice meant by what it just said, she was surrounded by small black creatures. "**Remember to keep your light strong, for it is your greatest weapon.**"

"I don't know what you mean, but I doubt that these guys would wait," Xion said, as she slashed the Shadow that charged at her, destroying it. She then faced the rest of the creatures and fought them all with her sword.

After the last black thing was destroyed, the platform shattered again. Xion, like before, managed to land safely on her feet. Ahead of her this time is a set of doors. She opened the door and entered with cautious. Unfortunately, she was blinded by a bright light as she walked through. When the light faded, Xion found herself standing in front of a clock tower at sunset. Standing between her and the tower were three boys. They all wore the same black coat as her, though one was a spiky, red-head, the other was a somewhat-spiky, golden blonde-head, and the third boy was wearing a blindfold for some reason and has silver hair. The three boys looked familiar to Xion. However, she couldn't remember who they are.

"What is it that you're afraid of?" the red-head asked.

Thinking for a moment, Xion replied, "I guess it's... losing something that's important."

"What is the one thing you care about more than anything else in the world?" the one with golden blonde hair asked next.

Thinking about her answer again, she replied. "I suppose it's... the people that I become friends with, no matter how little I know about them." She then realized something. "Wait, why are you asking me these questions?" _'More like why am I answering these questions like I already know the answer to them?_' the girl then thought.

"So Xion," the one with the blindfold spoke, crossing his arms and ignoring the question. "What is it that you wish?"

"My wish?" Xion repeated. Thinking about that question, she answered, "My wishes are... to regain my memories and protect the ones that I cherish."

"**Well said,**" the voice said from who-knows-where. There was a bright light again, and it blinded Xion, again.

Opening them, she found herself standing on a different platform. "Now what do you want from me?" she asked. As if on cue, more of those black creatures appeared out of nowhere. Xion was ready for them and charged forward.

After she took them out, the voice informed, "**The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.**" Before the black-head girl could ask what he was talking about, her shadow suddenly grew. It then took form and looked exactly like Xion. The person in question was surprised at this and was trembling a bit when her other self had and evil smirk on its face as well as a weapon that's similiar to her's. "**Don't be afraid,**" the voice told her. "**And don't forget, for you hold the most powerful weapon of all.**"

"What do you know?!" Xion yelled at the voice. "You're not in the situation that I'm in!" Her other self suddenly charged at her, attempting to cut her in half with its weapon. Xion saw through this and blocked the attack. She then counterattacked and didn't dare to have her other self recover for even a second.

Unfortunately, it was what the thing wanted. When the shadow saw an opening on Xion, it retaliated. When it did that, it also unarmed Xion. The monster then went on a rampage and was easily destroying whatever was in front of it. Xion quickly got out of its sight, for she was suddenly afraid of death. She was then running to her sword at full speed. However, her other selfsuddenly went in front of her and made an attempt to slice her head off. Seeing through that attempt, Xion slid under the sword and continued her way to the sword.

Once she had a good grip on her weapon, she prepared herself for whatever her shadow had in store for her, or so she thought. She didn't know how, but the other her somehow got faster. It constantly went behind her, attempting to kill her in just one blow from behind. Luckily for Xion, she managed to deflect every strike.

She was fighting her other self for what felt like hours and she was getting tired. The shadow saw this and used the chance to kill her with a dash. Fortunately for Xion, she somehow surpassed her limit and took out the dark side of her in just one hit.

"**Well done,**" the voice congratulated. "**You are as ready as you can be. Remember what you've learned and what you will learn. And most of all, remember that you have the power to open the Door to Light. And know this Xion, one day, you will regain your memories. Also, don't tell anyone about this meeting.**"

"Hang on! Can you at least-?!" Before Xion could ask her question, she was blinded by bright light. While blinded she heard the voice said, "**I will be watching over you.**"

* * *

*REALITY*

Xion suddenly woke up and sat up. She was sweating and was breathing hard, as though she had a nightmare.

"Y... you're awake," a young voice spoke. Xion turned to the voice and saw a young girl, around the age of eleven. The girl had long blue hair that ended near her waist. She was wearing a blue, short-sleeved shirt and blue shorts. This girl in Miki.

"Where am I?" Xion asked the girl.

"You're in my dad's hospital," she answered. "I should go get him and let him know that you're up."

"There's no need for that," a man in his mid-40s said. "I'm already here."

"Hi daddy."

"Miki, can you check up on the other patients?" he asked the child. Miki nodded and left. "Man, what a drag," he then sighed. "And I don't mean my job or my kid."

"Then what do you mean?" Xion curiously asked.

"I'm talking about you," he replied, taking a seat next to Xion's bed. "And I don't mean the amount of bandages that were wasted on you." Confused, Xion looked at herself and saw that, instead of a black coat that she wore in her dream, she had on a hospital gown. Underneath the gown, she was covered in bandages. "Though I have to say, I'm impressed that you're still alive, despite the injuries."

"I'm guessing that's a compliment," Xion muttered.

"Heh. Well, it's not everyday you see someone still alive with heavy injuries. Usually, they die some minutes after recieving them. You, on the other hand, despite the fact that you're a girl, you survived from those injuries."

"How long was I out?"

"Don't know. Found you yesterday while I went out to find herbs with my daughter. Anyway, when I said 'what a drag', I meant your memories." That last statement completely confused Xion. "Before I explain, what is the last thing you remember?"

When he asked that question, Xion remembered the meeting with that voice, but thought of it as a dream. Trying to remember something else, she gave up. As a result, she shook her head no.

"That's what I mean. You lost your memories somehow. If there's one thing I know that a doctor can't do, it's the fact that they can't restore people's lost memories. Either they have to return to their owner by themselves, or the owner have to create new memories."

Shocked about the news, Xion looked down in disappointment. She then realized something. "I didn't lose all of my memories."

"Oh? And may I ask what you remember?" the doctor asked.

"My name. It's Xion. And you?"

"Doctor Mike," he introduced. "Do you remember anything else?"

"... No. My name is the only thing that I remember."

"I see. Well, since you don't seem to have anywhere else to go, would you like to stay with me and my family until the rest of your memories return?" That question got Xion's attention. "Well what can you do by yourself? You don't remember anything besides your name. But, it's your choice if you want to live with us."

Before Xion could answer that question, they heard a scream. "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"What was that?!" Xion perked up.

"That sounded like my daughter!" Mike exclaimed, getting out of his seat. "Listen, be like a patient you are and stay here!" With that order, he left the room.

_'Like I'm going to listen to that order,_' Xion thought, as she got out of bed. '_Besides, if anything happens to that girl, I'm going to regret myself as long as I live for not doing anything. They helped me, and I'm going to repay the debt._'


	3. First Battle Against a Captain

When she got to the front entrance, Xion heard voices. Curious to know what they were talking about, she decided to stay in the hall and eavesdrop.

"I said it once, I'll say it thousands of more times if I have to!" Mike yelled. "I won't leave this island! Now let my daughter go!"

"Too bad," said a man in black. "And here I thought that you'll join if I take her with me. But I guess you don't care if I do that, do you?"

'_Wait, what?!_' Xion thought.

"Of course I care about my daughter! That's why I'm demanding you to let her go!"

"Or what? This island lacks fighters. And even if there are some fighters on this island, they'll be no match against the Marines."

"I know that. However, if you are a Marine, why would you force me to join you?! I told you many times that I won't join! My family is known to be the best doctors for generation here on this island. If I leave here, who will treat these people?!"

Not believing what she's hearing, Xion had little trouble breathing. If what Mike says is true, shouldn't they leave him alone? It's his decision if he wants to join them. Why would they force the guy to join?

"I see. So you're saying, that if there is no one living on this island, then you and you're family will come with us. Is that it?" the man in black asked.

"Wait. Haxel, you wouldn't dare!" Mike yelled, knowing what the guy in black, now known as Haxel, was thinking.

"Oh, but I do. Men, kill every last villagers on this island! Starting with this hospital!"

Xion eyes widen when she heard that order. '_He... He can't be serious, can he?!_' she asked herself. '_If he is, I... I don't want to die yet! I just regained consciousness and the only thing I know about myself is my name! Also, if he thinks I'm going to let him kill all the innocent people on this island, he better think again._' When she said that, Xion just realized something important in this situation. '_Hang on! If I do fight him, how can I fight? I don't have a weapon on me. I don't remember how to fight. I... I'm so useless!_'

"LIKE HELL WE WILL!" a different voice shouted, snapping Xion out of her trance. "I don't know about everyone else, but I will never harm any innocents, even if it's an order!"

"That's right!" another voice agreed. "What has these people done that's wrong?! If Mike doesn't want to come with us, then we shouldn't force him to join!"

Having enough of the backtalk, Haxel, unhesitantly, killed the two that spoke against his order. Glaring at the rest of his soldiers, he said, "If you don't want to end up like these two, I suggest you kill everyone that resides in this dump."

Still hesitant, the Marines did as told and charged in. When they did, however, Mike took out a sword from who-knows-where and threatened them. "If you take another step closer to my patients, I'll kill you all! With this sword!"

"Oh? And the doctor is also a fighter himself, I see. I wonder where you get that from," Haxel sarcastically wondered. "Not like that matters to me. Although, having a doctor that can fight can be a great asset in my unit."

"CUT THE CRAP! I already told you that I won't leave those that needs to be treated on this island! Now leave and release my daughter!"

"DADDY!" the said girl screamed.

"Someone hold him down or I'll kill all of you," Haxel ordered and threatened. With fear, _all_ of his underlings did as told and held him down. "I DID NOT SAY ALL I SAID SOME! Ah well, anyway Mike, I'll give you one last chance. Join us, or watch all your patients and everyone else die."

"If you want to kill everyone here, you have to go over my dead body," Mike replied.

"Suit yourself," Haxel said. "Guys, do it." At that order, about half of the Marines got off and hesitantly charged in.

'_Stop,_' Mike mentally pleaded. '_Don't kill them. DON'T KILL THEM!_' The moment he thought that, few of the Marines were knocked out. The person that knocked them out, was none other than Xion, who was holding a mop.

"You want to kill the other patients, you have to go through me!" she said.

"Oh? And who might you be?" Haxel asked.

"Xion! What are you doing?! You're in no condition to fight right now!" Mike yelled.

"Shut up! I'd rather fight than to just lie down and rest! I owe you my life. And for that, I'll repay my debt here and now!" Xion argued. '_Plus, if I die here, I won't remember anything else about my past!_'

Hearing that she'll fight against an army, Haxel laughed. "Hahahahahaha! You... fight against an army... of Marines?! I'd like to see you try. Get her or I'll get you!" At that command, half of the Marines got off of Mike and charged at Xion.

Surprisingly, Xion managed to hold them off. However, because of her condition, she couldn't land any good hit on them without trying to reopen her wounds. After blocking many strikes and attacking the Marines, the mop broke, leaving Xion weaponless. When she saw the next attack aiming for her head, she quickly dodge-rolled out of the crowd.

'_Damn it!_' the raven-haired girl thought, gritting her teeth. '_If only I have a better weapon! I could easily defeat them and prevent them from killing the other villagers!_'

'_**Now is the time,**_' a familiar voice announced. '_**It's time for you to reawaken the power that was hidden within your heart.**_'

Right on cue, Xion's right hand suddenly glew. The next thing you know, within her hand, is an oversized key-like weapon. The guard is deep, pastel blue while the handle is deep indigo. The blade is a loght blue metal bar with a spike and a star at the end with the same color. On the bottom of the bar is a gold rainguard. This weapon also has a keychain, which is a gold star, attached to the hilt of the weapon with a silver chain. Xion stared at the weapon in awe and in confusion.

'_**That's your Keyblade, Starlight,**_' the familiar voice introduced.

"Starlight?" Xion silently repeated out loud.

'_**Yes. With this, you can fight against those that you see as enemies.**_'

The moment the voice said that, a laughter from a familiar voice came. "You... you call that... a weapon?" Haxel laughed. "That has to be the ridiculous weapon I've ever seen! What can you do with that stupid thing? Although I'm impressed with that appearing act you did with it, how are you going to beat us with it?"

"How about you come over here and find out?" Xion suggested, going into her battle stance. '_Is what I regret saying since I have no idea how to fight with it,_' she then thought. '_But, I'll try my best!_'

"No thanks. It'd be a waste of my time. Men, take her out already so we can get on with the killing," he lazily ordered.

As the Marines charged at Xion, she easily blocked their attacks and counterattacked. Despite how hard she's battling, she's also trying not to kill any of those men, for they were only forced to attack her and the other citizens. After she knocked them all out, Xion pointed her weapon at the commanding Marine.

"Now do you want to fight? Or do you want to have the rest of your men come at me?" she asked.

"I admit, you prove yourself to be a fighter," Haxel simply complimented. "However, you're no match against me or my powers." When he said that, he released Miki, who ran to her father, and his body was slowly covered in black fur. He was getting a little taller, a tail came out and his eyes were like a panther's. In fact, he's exactly like a panther. "I ate the Neko Neko no mi, Model Panther(Cat Cat Fruit, Panther Type). It's thanks to this power that I easily earned the position of captain in my unit. I hope you're ready, girl. No one has ever seen my powers and lives to tell it, unless if they're Marines, of course."

"Like I'm scared of a big black cat!" Xion exclaimed, as she charged in to 'cut' Haxel's left arm.

"It's useless," Haxel boasted, letting the raven-haired girl try to cut him. How unfortunate it is for him, for his arm was actually cut off by Xion's weapon. He screamed at the pain, gripping what's left of his arm. "H... How?!" he asked. "That thing doesn't have a blade! How can it cut me?!"

Even Xion widened her eyes in surprise. '_At least now I know why it's called a Keyblade,_' she thought, staring at the said weapon. '_Not only does it look like a key, it's also like a sword. My best guess is that Keyblades are only similar to katanas._'

"Damn it... I seem to have... underestimated you," he breathed, getting back Xion's attention. "I like you, girly. How about you join the Marines? If you do... your life will be spared."

"I'd rather die than join you, furball!" Xion yelled.

That last word made Haxel twitch and drop his jaws. Not just him, everyone in the room also dropped their jaws at the insult.

'_Th... that foolish girl!_' Mike thought. '_I know she lost her memory and all, but calling Haxel that is the last thing she should do!_'

"You dare call me that?" the said Marine muttered. "You will definitely PAY FOR THAT!" The instant he shouted that, he charged at Xion, attempting to kill her.

When Xion saw this, she quickly blocked him. Once she blocked him, she then saw his claws closing in on her. Before the claws could hit her, Xion backflipped out of the way. When her back touched the wall, she tried to look for some kind of opening so she won't get hit by Haxel's next attack. '_This place is too cramped for a fight like this,_' she thought. '_Especially if there's a lot of people here._' The moment she thought that, she had an idea. She then scanned the area for the front door and found it right next to her. '_Why am I standing here then?!_' she asked herself.

"DIE GIRL!" Haxel yelled, charging at Xion, with his claws ready to kill her. At the last second, Xion dodge-rolled out of the way and ran out through the front.

"You missed, furball!" she provoked, running off into the village.

Hearing that insult made Haxel even more angry. "I'LL KILL YA FOR THAT INSULT!" he yelled, chasing after her. He then turned to his men and ordered them to not kill the patients yet, for their first target is Xion.

* * *

In the village, Xion kept running away. While running, she scanned the area to see if there's a large area that has very little to no people nearby. The only place she saw that is low-populated, is the docks. When she arrived at the said place, she skidded to a stop and faced Haxel, who also stopped in his tracks.

"So, you decided to die here," he assumed. "Well, it will be a bother to bury you when you die. I don't see any reason why I won't let you go to the bottom of the ocean when you die. Now that I think about it, maybe I should do the same for everyone else. If I bury them, I'll get my hands all dirty in blood. I'd rather just let them sink than to bury them."

Hearing the fact that he wouldn't spare any of the villagers, whether they are children or women or not, made Xion really angry. Once she growled at him, she saw a short vision of her shooting out a fireball at an enemy while shouting, 'fire!' When she saw that vision, she quickly scanned her surrounding, see if there are anything that explodes or something. That was when she laid her eyes onto the ocean. If she can't kill him the hard and painful way, she could at least do it the easy and painless way.

"What's wrong, kitty-cat?" she asked, provoking him. "Is that all the black kitty got? I expected more from you, judging from how highly you speak about yourself. Now I'm starting to think that it was nothing but all talk. I think you really are a pussycat."

Hearing those insults made Haxel lose it, big time. "I'LL DEFINITELY KILL YOU NOW!" he shouted, charging in at her.

A seond before he charged in, Xion was already focusing on that magic that she saw. She was a bit relieved when she saw a fireball forming at the tip of her weapon. Catching a glimpse at how close the Marine captain currently was, she decided to wait a little bit longer. When he was close enough, Xion aimed her ball of fire to his mouth and yelled, "FIRE!". At that command, the said magic went into the beast's mouth, forcing him to accidentally swallow it and got the inside of his mouth on fire.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH! FIRE! FIRE! SOMEONE GET ME WATER!" he screamed. When his eyes caught the sight of the ocean water, without a second thought, he jumped in. That was the stupidest mistake he's ever made, especially since he's a devil fruit user. As a devil fruit user, once he gains a power from a devil fruit, he loses the ability to swim. Therefore, he's drowning.

'_Did I beat him?_' she asked herself, seeing that he's not resurfacing. At the last bubble, she heard some footsteps coming her way. Facing the source, she saw a few Marines coming towards her. Assuming that they'll fight her to avenge their leader's defeat, she went back into her battle position, only to have them run pass her. Turning her head towards them, she sweatdropped a bit in confusion. '_What was that about?_' she then wondered. The instant she did, she heard an applause. Turning to the source, she saw the other Marines, many villagers, Mike and Miki clapping and sheering for her. Some even danced in joy at her win.

"What's going on?" she asked. "Why are you all cheering for me? Especially the Marines. Aren't you enraged that I defeated your captain."

"Everyone hated that pantherman," Miki explained. "He's been controling us using our own fear of dying."

"Xion. How can I ever repay you?" Mike asked. Everyone else heard that question and wondered the same thing.

"He has a point there." "That girl saved our lives." "We should do something for her."

Hearing those words, Xion just smiled in relief, since no one really had to die. Her happiness was ruined when she heard a cat coughing.

"Why... you... bastard," Haxel breathed, counghing out water. "I nearly drowned."

"You should've realized that by yourself," Xion backtalked, walking towards him. "If you really wanted to get rid of fire in your mouth, you should drink water or put something cold in your nouth. You don't jump into the ocean and gulp down the sea water. You'd drown." Before the Marine captain could say anything to him, she quickly shut him up and knocked him unconscious using the back of Starlight. As he collapsed on the floor, she then said, "That should shut you up for a while."

Seeing that the guy was completely unconscious, Some of the Marines took the pantherman into their ship and in a cell. As they walked away, Xion started to collapse herself, only out of exhaustion. Many people noticed this and went over to help the girl. When they crowded around her, she passed out.


	4. Back in the Dive and a Celebration

*XION'S INNER WORLD*

'_Wha... What happened?_' Xion asked herself. She was on a platform, back in the dream that she was in earlier. '_Why am I here this time? Do I have to take onother one of those tests? Or is it something else?_'

"**Oh good. You're awake,**" a familiar voice stated. "**And here I thought you'll never wake up. I was getting worried.**"

"It's good to see, or hear, you again, too," Xion said. "Mind telling me why I'm here this time? It's for another test, isn't it?"

"**No you're not,**" it replied. "**I just want to talk to you about that fire magic you performed earlier. How were you able to perform it if we didn't practice any spells yet?**"

That question caught Xion off-guard. "I... I don't know," she answered. "I just saw myself performing that magic. I thought that maybe one of my memories returned. And so, I tried to do that fireball thing, and I did it."

A moment of silence came, for the voice, even though it wasn't visible, was in deep thought about what Xion had explained to it. "**... This is the first time something like this has happened,**" it said. "**Even if you did see a memory of you using magic, no Keyblade weilder learns it that fast.**"

"But I did," Xion told it. "So what does that make me?"

'_**...I wonder if this has anything to do with her being a nobody that created its own heart,**_' the voice thought. '_**Even though, it still shouldn't be possible. Could it be because of the first part of her test? No, that can't be.**_'

"Hey, are you going to answer my question or what?" Xion impatiently asked.

"**Xion, you are a Keyblade weilder. The reason for you being able to use magic that fast is completely beyond me,**" it told her. "**Though, if I was to guess, I would say that it's because you're special, in a way. How special you may ask? That's what I would like to know. For now, let's leave things at that and get you back. Everyone else is worried sick about you.**"

"Sounds like a good idea," the raven-haired girl replied, closing her eyes to prepare for the bright light.

* * *

*REALITY*

Xion started to wake up after hearing voices. By the sounds of it, the owners were very worried about the girl. The voices stopped when they heard her groan.

"Hey! She's awake!" a young, cheerful voice exclaimed.

"It's about time she did. I was starting to doubt my skills," an oldish voice said.

Slowly sitting up, Xion rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Once she was done rubbing them, she saw Mike and Miki sitting next to her bed. "What happened?" she asked, yawning.

"While we were cheering for your victory against that mean old captain, you just passed out on us," Miki explained. "You were breathing heavily, too. Daddy did everything he could to try to have you to live again."

"Oh. Then that would mean that I have yet another debt to repay."

"Now, now Xion. You really don't need to repay me," Mike told the raven-haired girl. "I'm only doing what a doctor was suppose to do. It's my job, after all."

"I suppose that's true," Xion agreed. "But now I need to find a place to stay. I can't stay in the hospital."

"Then stay in our place!" the young girl suggested, surpirsing her. "Our house is big enough for ten people because of daddy's job. You can stay with us."

"No, no. I really don't want to be a burden to any of you," Xion tried to protest.

"Why not? It's the least we can do for what you did for us," Mike reasoned. "Instead of making things complicated for us right now, how about you just accept the offer? We'd love to have you join us."

"I still don't think it's a good idea. I mean, you saw that battle just now. I have to practice using that weapon that appeared in my hand earlier."

"Now, now. There's no need to worry about that either. Our house is close to the docks and the woods. You can practice and train in either of those areas."

"... Well, since you have the things that I needed, as of now, I suppose I can't refuse."

Hearing that reply got Miki really happy. "Yay! Onee-san is staying with us!" she exclaimed, jumping into Xion's arms. "Oh yeah, we have your clothes here. They was so dirty, we had to clean them."

"Oh yes, yes. In fact, they should be dry right about now," her father said. "I'll go and get them. Meanwhile, why don't you two girls use the time to get to know each other?"

That suggestion got the daughter really happy, she snuggled herself into Xion's arms, like she was her long lost sister.

* * *

Time later, outside of the hospital, many villagers were sitting on the floor or some barrels. They were all waiting for their hero to get out of the building so they could celebrate her victory and their freedom. Hearing the door opening, they all looked up and saw Xion out of her hospital gown and in her black shirt, black pants, black heels, black gloves and black coat. The only thing she has that's not black is a necklace around her neck, which has a small blue and yellow seashell.

'_I should keep this in my pocket when I get myself in a battle,_' she thought. '_It's the only thing that's connected to my past._'

* * *

*EARLIER*

Xion and Miki were having a nice conversation, mostly about her battle against Haxel. After they finished talking about that, Miki just remembered something.

"This was in your coat's pocket," she told her, taking out a seashell necklace. "Well, the seashell is. I made it into a necklace myself, so you won't lose it easily."

Xion's eyes widen when she looked at the seashell. A memory then came up and it showed her leaving some seashells for a sleeping boy. The raven-haired girl held her head when she saw that memory. Luckily, it wasn't painful at all, otherwise, Miki would've been worried about her.

"So what do you think?" Miki asked. "This is my first time making a necklace, so it won't bother me if you said you don't like it."

"That's not true," Xion said. "I really like it. Besides, you're right about one thing; I won't lose it that easily if it's a necklace." That comment got Miki so happy, she lunged herself onto the older girl.

* * *

*NOW*

'_I should remind myself to give Miki something as a thank-you present._'

"SHE'S ALIVE!" a voice shouted, snapping Xion out of her thoughts. Looking up, she was suddenly surrounded by the villagers. They were either asking if she was alright or how awesome she looked when she beat up the Marine captain. Speaking of Marines, even they asked and complimented her. Before things got complicated for the girl, Mike came out of the hospital and scolded the villagers.

"YOU PEOPLE!" he yelled. "HAVE YOU NO SHAME?! Although Xion's up and moving, she's still recovering. It's a miracle how she was able to recover so fast. So whatever you do, go easy on her." Despite the warning, they all ignored the doctor and carried Xion to where the party was taking place. "HEY! I'M TELLING YOU PEOPLE TO GIVE HER SOME ROOM!"

"Just give up, dear," a female voice told the doctor. The voice comes from a woman with long, blue hair. She has blue eyes and wears a nurse outfit. This is Miki's mother and Mike's wife and assisstant, Mia. "Anyone would act that way in front of their hero."

"I know but, she hasn't fully recovered yet."

"Her actions says otherwise," the wife protested, seeing Xion partying with the rest of the villagers.

"XION! YOU'RE IN NO CONDITION TO PARTY YET!" Mike warned. The warning, however, didn't reach Xion's ears, for her thoughts were on other things.

'_Some day,_' she thought. '_Some day, I'll remember everything about me. And it all starts... with my Keyblade, Starlight. Each day, I'll train myself so more of my memories will come back. I'll travel around the world if I have to! I'll do anything... to get my memories back!_'


	5. Meeting the Straw Hats

It's been six months since Xion fought and defeated Haxel; six months since... she woke up with no memories about herself. During those six months, she was training with her Keyblade, trying to see if she could remember more about how to fight with it and learn more magics. She's been learning a lot more magics, except that they are all basic magics, or so the voice in her dream told her.

Speaking of the voice, it keeps popping into her head lately. It's been giving her advice about the magic that she's been learning and attack commands that she was remembering. Not only that, ever since the day when Xion started her training, it's been talking to her in her head. Meaning that she didn't need to be unconscious to hear the voice.

Other than training for the past six months, Xion has also been battling pirates and bandits from here and there. Because she defeated the said groups, she was a hero to every villagers and, surprisingly, Marines. Not only that, with her Keyblade and the name of it, she was given a nickname from the villagers known as-

"Hey! Starlight Blade!" a Marine called, interrupting Xion's training. "A message from the Headquarters. They-"

"Don't want to," the raven-haired girl interrupted, as she continued her training.

"You don't even know what the message is."

"It's about me joining the Marines, isn't it? I already told you, after what I saw with your former captain, I won't be a Marine. Besides, I already decided that I'll travel around the world to remember more things about me. How is joining the Marines going to help me with that?"

"Well... I suppose that's true," the Marine said. "Well, I'll let the captain know about your usual reply. Also, there's a pirate ship in the docks."

"And?" Xion asked, just finished her training. "Did they cause any havoc? Did you try to fight them?" Those questions caused the guy to flinch. Noticing this, Xion said, "How many times do I have to say these things? For the message about me joining you guys, I will never join for obvious reasons. And, if you see any pirates or bandits causing any trouble, that's when you call me. Now then, if they didn't do any of that yet, keep a close eye on them, in case if they dare to disturb the peace of this island. I have to practice my magic. Before that, I'll go for a walk in town."

That last part got the soldier a little confused. "Didn't you say that you won't attack the pirates or bandits unless they start to attack first?" he asked.

"I didn't say anything about me taking a walk while they are here, did I?" she asked back, walking away.

* * *

*MEANWHILE, SOMEWHERE NEAR THE ISLAND*

A pirate ship, different from the one that the Marine saw, was sailing it's way to a near-by island. On this ship were five people. One has black hair, red vest and ragged jeans with a straw hat on and has a small scar under his left eye. Another, who is asleep, has green hair with a ragged, white shirt and blackish, green pants with a bandana around his arm of the same color. Then there's a girl with orange hair, wearing a white t-shirt with blue strips and light orange mini-skirt and dark brown boots. The fourth member of the ship has a long nose, curly black hair that's hidden under an olive green plaid bandana and brown overalls with a white sash. Lastly, the fifth member was a blonde man in gentleman-like clothing, smoking. These four are Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Sanji, also known as the Straw Hat Pirates.

"How much longer until we reach land?" Luffy whined.

"For the last time, I DON'T KNOW!" Nami snapped, after hearing that question from his mouth the hundredth time.

"But I'm so bored and hungry."

"HOW DO YOU THINK WE ALL FEEL?!" Usopp yelled.

"It's because of you that we haven't eaten in three days!" Sanji yelled. "Why don't you do something about that stomach of yours?!"

"It can't be helped," Luffy complained. "I have no control over my stomach. If it wants food, I have to give it food."

"AND WHOSE FAULT WAS IT THAT WE _HAVE_ NO FOOD LEFT?!" Nami, Usopp and Sanji demonically yelled.

"I swear Luffy, if you don't do something about that appetite of yours, I'll make sure that you never get anything to eat at all!" Sanji decided.

"WHAT?! THAT'S TOO MEAN!" Luffy exclaimed.

"THEN DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT STOMACH OF YOURS!" the trio shouted again.

"Hey, guys," Zoro called, awake by their yelling and shouting and whining. "I see an island up ahead of us."

"What?! Really?!" Luffy asked, with his eyes all sparkly. "All right then, everyone! Full speed ahead to that island!" he then ordered.

Upon approaching the island, Nami had a feeling like she knows the said land. Usopp noticed this and asked what was wrong.

"It looks like an island that I heard rumors from," she replied. "They say that there's an island called Tanoshi Island. It's said that on that island, there's a demon that kills any trespasser that lands there, especially if they go to a specific town that has a Marine Base. People say that it works for them or killed them and made the base its home. Not only that, they say it takes a form of a girl wearing a black coat and that she can easily kill a group of pirates and bandits. What's worse is that not even if the pirates and bandits work together, that demon can still beat them. Even the combined bounty of fifty million belli can't beat her."

That warning had Usopp and Nami, who just realizedthe rumors about Tanoshi Island, scared out of their wits. Because of the rumors, which was mostly true, thye begged Luffy to turn back. "Luffy! Let's not go there!"

"Why?" he calmly asked. The two explained the rumors about the island to Luffy. Unfortunately for them, instead of having him agree to not visit the island, he became more curious about it. "An island with a demon?! It sounds interesting! Let's go!" That reply got the two to cry.

"It'll be my first time meeting a demon," Zoro said. "Can't wait to fight it when we get the chance."

"Nami-swan! Don't worry! If a demon gets near you, I'll protect you!" Sanji tried to calm her.

* * *

Back on Tanoshi Island, Xion suddenly sneezed. '_Must be the rumors on other islands about me,_' she thought, as she continued her walk. As she calmly walked into town, she was greeted by the villagers, both old and young. She then came across Miki and her friends, pretending to be Xion and holding up wooden swords. The youngsters noticed her and ran up to the girl.

"Xion onee-san!" Miki called, jumping into her arms. Ever since they were living together, the young blue-haired girl was calling Xion her big sister.

"Hey there Miki-chan, everyone," the raven-haired girl greeted. "Are you guys playing war again?" she then asked, noticing the wooden swords they were carrying.

"You bet!" a red-haired girl answered. "We all want to be just like you!"

"This way, you don't have to worry about the village when you go out on your adventure," a black-haired boy explained. "We're doing everything we can to be as strong as you, Starlight Blade!"

"Chris, I told you; you can just call me Xion." When she said that, a group of pirates came from behind her.

"Hey!" one of them called. Turning her head to face the one who called her, he asked, "You the demon of this island?"

* * *

Back in the docks, which is a few miles away from the upcoming battle, the Straw Hat Pirates docked the Going Merry and got off the ship.

"We're finally here!" Luffy happily yelled out. "The place where the demon is!"

"WE'RE NOT HERE TO FIGHT THE DEMON!" Nami and Usopp shouted, bonking his head.

"I didn't say that we'll fight it," the straw hat corrected, having them sigh in relief. "If the demon's a good demon, I'll have him join my crew!" he then announced, causing the duo to do an anime-fall at the idea.

"THAT'S EVEN WORSE!" they cried.

"Hey, did you hear?" a male villager asked, grabbing the crew's attention.

"I sure did," another male villager replied. "There's another fight going on in the shopping district."

"Should we go look?" a female villager asked.

"I say, let's get to it!"

"I know we saw her fight a lot, but I can't help but agree with you," another female villager stated.

"What are we waiting for?! Let's go! To the shopping distirict!" the first male yelled out. That said, the group of four ran to the said district.

"Did you hear that?" Zoro asked, having a good guess of who the 'she' that the four were talking about was.

"No we didn't!" Nami and Usopp protested, hoping that they heard wrong.

"I heard them saying something about a girl," Sanji said, worried about the fight that the girl is involved in.

"They can't be talking about the demon!" Usopp said, sweatdropping.

"Th-that's right!" Nami agreed. "There's no way that they would go if it was. Right, Luffy?"

She should not have asked that. As their captain, anything he says, goes. Almost anything. "Let's follow them to the shopping district!" he ordered. That order had Nami and Usopp crying. Without arguing, for it would be useless to try to convince him to not go, the Straw Hat Pirates ran to the shopping district as well.

* * *

Speaking of the shopping district, Xion already handled most of the pirates that tried to attack her. The only ones that were left were the leader and two others.

"She... she really is a demon!" the pirate with a red bandana exclaimed.

"What should we do, First Mate Akoku?!" a pirate with weird markings on his face asked.

"What do you mean 'what do we do'?!" the leader, now known as Akoku, asked back. "Her ability is the reason why the captain took interest on her! Make yourself useful and take her out!"

"Y-yes sir!" the two pirates replied, charging towards Xion. They had their cutlass ready to cut Xion, who easily blocked them with the wooden sword that she borrowed from Miki and one of her friends.

'_Useless,_' she thought. Seeing an opening, Xion quickly charged pass the two and slashed them. After a moment of silence, the two pirates were down and out, therefore leaving the First Mate to fight the girl alone.

"Now it's your turn," she said. "Of course, I'll be nice enough to let you go back to your captain. And when you do, tell him that if he mess with anyone else while being on this island, I'll kill him, just as I did with several other pirates."

With that warning, the remaining pirate ran away in fear. "I will be back!" he shouted.

'_I know you will,_' the raven-haired girl thought, as she heard a short cheer from the crowd.

As the cheer faded, a cheerful voice came. "WOW! THAT'S SO COOL!" it exclaimed. Xion never heard that voice before. Out of curiosity, she faced the owner of the voice and saw a boy with a scar under his eye in a red vest and short ragged jeans. In other words, Luffy. "The way you handled those pirates were awesome!" he was used to hearing that from kids, but to hear it from a boy who's a year older than her is too unbelievable.

"Hey Luffy!" a different male voice called. "That's not how you approach a lady!" The voice came from a blonde-haired man, who's also smoking. In other words, Sanji.

Ignoring the guy, Luffy then asked, "Hey hey! Do you wanna join my crew?!"

Before she could answer that, two other figures came out of nowhere and punched the straw hat boy. "YOU IDIOT!" they both said.

"What are you thinking?!" the one with a long nose, meaning Usopp, asked. "She might be the demon from the rumors!"

When he pointed to Xion and said that, he recieved a kick from the smoking guy. "How dare you say such thing about a lady?!" he yelled.

Xion then realized something from the straw hat's request. "Wait a second. Are you guys pirates?" she asked.

"N-n-no! Of course not!" a girl with short orange hair, Nami, lied. "Do we look like pirates?"

"Yeah, we're pirates," Luffy bluntly replied, causing Nami and Usopp to drop their jaws at his stupidity.

"IDIOT! DON'T YOU SEE THAT I'M/SHE'S TRYING TO _NOT_ GET US KILLED?!" they asked their stupid captain, giving him some beating.

"Then I take that as a 'yes, we're pirates'," Xion said. As she did, Nami and Usopp got tensed and sweatdropped for giving away their identity.

"And what will you do if we are?" a guy with green hair, Zoro, asked, appearing out of nowhere, preparing to take out his sword.

"HEY! STUPID MARIMO! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Sanji asked.

"THIS IS CALLED BEING CAUTIOUS, ERO-COOK!" Zoro answered.

They then started to throw insults at each other, up to the point where they completely forgot about Xion and started they're own fight. Luffy just cheered for whoever he thinks will win. This leaves Nami and Usopp to answer Xion's questions. However, due to the fight that they saw earlier with her against the last two pirates, they were trembling non-stop in front of her, thinking that she'll mercilessly kill them.

"I guess that leaves you two," Xion said, turning to the scared duo, making them flinch. "So, you guys are pirates, right?" she repeated her previous question.

"Wh-wh-what if we are?!" Usopp asked. "I'm warning you, I have eight thousand men behind me! If you dare harm me, they will show no mercy!"

"Th-that's right!" Nami spoke up, going along with the act. "If you dare touch even a single hair on my head, my guards will defeat you!"

"... What are you talking about?" Xion asked. The tone in her voice made it sound like she saw through the act, getting the navigator and sniper back into their please-don't-hurt-me mode.

"STARLIGHT BLADE!" a Marine called. The sight of the clothes he wore got Nami and Usopp all tensed. They want to go to their monster trio, but they can't move their body. "Another pirate ship has been docked! It's from the Straw Hats!" When he identified the said ship, Nami and Usopp flinched.

"I can see that," Xion told the soldier, as he came to a stop when he got to her. "I'm negotiating with them right now. And it seems to me that they aren't our usual pirates. Report back to the base and tell them that I'll handle the Straw Hats." When she said that, Nami and Usopp had an image of her killing them. The image was enough to bring them to tears.

"We didn't even get to the Grand Line," Nami whispered to the long nose.

"Is this the price that we have to pay for being pirates?" Usopp wondered.

The Marine saluted to Xion and ran back to the base, leaving her alone with the pirates and other villagers, who were doing their own things. Suddenly, there was a growl. The scared duo held each other, thinking that there's a monster coming. They heard thumps and turned to see their monster trio on the ground. Reason? They were hungry.

"I'm starving..." Zoro said.

"Meeeaaat~" Luffy dazed. Nami's and Usopp's stomach then growled as well.

Laughing a bit, Xion said, "If you like, I can treat you five to lunch." That offer got two of the three monsters back on their feet to hear free food.

"Really?" they asked.

"It'll be my way of welcoming you, since you're not like those pirates," Xion told them.

"Those pirates?" the scared duo repeated.

* * *

Time later, Xion led the group to the best restaurant in the village. When they entered, many people who are working and eating there greeted Xion, who greeted back.

"You must be really famous around here," Luffy observed.

"I'll say. What did you do to be this famous?" Zoro curiously asked.

"I bet it's because of her beauty," Sanji said, going gaga over Xion.

"IDIOTS!" Usopp yelled. "Isn't it obvious?!"

"The reason for this must be out of fear because she's the demon!" Nami explained, getting the whole restaurant silent. She regretted saying that, for she believes that she will be killed right on the spot.

Instead of Xion being angry, she was laughing, along with everyone else in the building. "What's so funny?!" she asked, demonically.

"You guys really are pirates," the raven-haired girl said. "Though you're nothing like the pirates that I've seen." Seeing the confused look on their faces, she started to explain the whole 'demon' thing. "That was a lie. It was so no pirates or bandits can bother this island. Unfortunately, it seems to attract them instead. Though it's all right. Besides, with them coming here, I can get stronger and it makes really good training. Isn't that right, guys?!" she then asked the people, who cheered in agreement.

"Before she came here, all the pirates and bandits who were hiding in this island were all being nasty to us." "Not even the Marines can handle them." "And it was no thanks to their former captain." "But ever since she defeated him, all the other pirates and bandits were all beaten and taken to the Marine Headquarters." "And ever since that day, other pirates were too scared to bother us."

"Then explain to us that fight earlier," Usopp demanded.

"There were some pirates who had guts to come here, thinking that it was ony rumors," Xion explained. "Those pirates were causing so much havoc here, it was really annoying. I couldn't stand it. So I had no choice but to fight them all off and get them arrested."

"And what about us?" Nami asked. "We're pirates as well, remember?"

"There were a few pirates who came here a few months ago who didn't mean any harm at all. So I decided to only fight pirates who disturbs peace on this island. Of course it's different with bandits, since they do anything for money. And if you're going to ask about the Marines, even though I'm not one of them, they always treat me as their superior."

"Oh, I see," the five pirates replied, placing their fists on their palms. Their stomach then growled, demanding lots of food.

Xion heard this and laughed. "Anyway, waitress. Table for six please."

"Yes, right this way," a red-haired waitress replied, guiding them to a table with eight seats. She then handed them menus to order something to eat.

"WHOA!" Luffy exclaimed. "All of these sounds really good."

"Then order all of them," Xion told the straw hat.

"REALLY?!" Luffy asked with sparkling eyes. "You're so nice!"

"W-w-wait a minute!" Nami protested. "Is that really okay?! He may not look like it, but Luffy has a huge appetite."

"If it's not allright, I wouldn't have suggested him to order one of each meal," Xion pointed out. "That reminds me, we haven't properly introduced ourselves yet. My name's Xion. I'm also known as Starlight Blade."

"I'm Luffy. The man who's going to be the next pirate king."

"Roronoa Zoro."

"I'm Nami."

"I am the great Captaaain Usopp!"

"My name is Sanji. It's nice to meet you, Xion-san."

After they ordered their meal, Luffy was talking to Xion about the fight earlier. That conversation got the other straw hats in.

"You must be really strong if you defeated that many piraets with a wooden sword," Zoro complimented.

"Well I have been training for six months. And each day, I was getting used to fighting with a sword." Well, it wasn't an outright truth. However, it wasn't an outright lie either.

"I see. If you're that strong, maybe we can fight some time"

Hearing that made Sanji really angry. "Hey Marimo! Do you have any idea what you're saying?!"

"I'm used to fighting, Sanji. With that said, I'm looking forward to that battle, Zoro," Xion replied, ignoring Sanji's words.

"Okay, Xion-swan~," Sanji agreed in his I-am-in-love-with-you mode. He then turned back to Zoro and growled, "You better go easy on her."

Hearing that, Xion assumed that Zoro would keep his words, being a swordsman and all. So she said, "I like fighting my opponents when they are at full strength. I won't forgive anyone who tells them to go easy on me."

That worked like a charm, for Sanji then told Zoro that he better fight till his heart's content. It was then that their meal arrived. They all look so fancy, as though the Straw Hats and Xion are eating in a fancy restaurant, which is mostly true.

"How much do we have to pay?" Usopp asked, taking a bite out of his meal.

"165,106,050 belli," the waitress answered. Hearing the price, all the straw hats, except Luffy, choked on their food.

"OVER 165 MILLION?!" they repeated.

"Yes, if you aren't Xion's friends that is," the waitress added, much to their relief.

"We're not friends," the raven-haired girl toyed, having the same people to choke on their food again. "I was joking."

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Zoro, Nami and Usopp asked.

"Xion-swan~ You're so pretty when you toyed with us like that," Sanji complimented in his lover mode.

They continued to talk about Xion, such as where she lives, what kind of training she was doing, and how she got her nickname. The conversation then went to her seashell necklace, which Luffy noticed.

"Where did you get that necklace?" he asked. "It looks cool."

Nami's eyes went to the accessory as well. Or, to be more precise, the gold chain. It may not be much due to size, but she might sell it for a few hundred belli. "Can I see it?" Nami asked. "I promise to give it back."

"Hate to say it Nami, but I won't remove this necklace," Xion replied, touching the seashell part of the accessory. "I doubt that any of you will understand how important it is to me."

The instant she said that, a Marine barged in. "WE HAVE TROUBLE, STARLIGHT BLADE!" he shouted. "Near the coast, several villagers were captured by some weird pirates! Miki is one of them!"

"What was that?!" Xion asked, not believing what she heard. "We have to hurry!" She got up and was about to run out, though Luffy grabbed her wrist and stopped her. "What are you doing?!"

"Let us come with you," he said. "You're going to rescue them, right? Also, I want to see how you battle against an army of pirates. Don't worry, we'll back you up."

Thinking for a few seconds, Xion said, "Do what you want." and left. Getting up, Luffy and his crew followed her.

* * *

At the coast, many people were struggling to get out of the weird pirates grasps. They all have dark skin and toothy jaws. Bare-chested on their bellies and wore black turtleneckshirts that were stitched into their chests, covering their upper wore brown and tan-patched pants and matching shoes, a red sash, bright yellow wristbands and skull-shaped also wear red bandanas on their heads that covers their eyes. In place of those eyes are an eyepatch with a white x on it and and angular black spiral. They all also have a curve blade on them.

"Let us go!" one of the hostages demanded.

"When Starlight Blade gets here, you'll be sorry!" another hostage said.

"Oh, will I?" the captain asked. "I heard a lot about the girl. And if she thinks that she's more popular than I just because she can beat many pirates and bandits, she better think again. Once I'm through with her, this whole island will be in _my_ control. MINE!"

"Who is going to control this island?!" a female voice asked. The pirates turned their heads to the voice and see Xion, without her necklace on, with the Straw Hat Pirates.

"You must be the infamous Starlight Blade," he said, approaching the group "I must say, you're timing is perfect. I was just about to go into town and call you."

"What do you want?" Xion asked, not in any mood for talk.

"A simple duel. You beat me, I'll hand myself in to the Marines. If I win, you have to be my slave and turn your back on this island."

When he said that, Luffy perked his head up. "Hey you! You can't have Xion! I've already decided to have her in my crew!"

"Stay out of this, Luffy," Xion demanded. "This is my fight. If it's a duel he wants, it's a duel he gets. But first, let the hostages go."

"Not until you beat me, which is impossible," the captain boasted.

"You're in trouble now girly," the pirate from earlier, Akoku, told the girl. "No one messes with the Trickster Pirates!"

"Oh, it's you. How have you been?" Xion casually asked.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!" the First Mate snapped.

"Silence, Akoku," the captain calmed him. "Though you're right about one thing: this girl must be taught a lesson."

"I think that line is meant for you," Xion corrected.

"Like you can beat me. I am Captain Mongol, with a bounty of 29 million belli."

"That's almost as much as Luffy's," Usopp whispered.

"Anyway, when are we going to start this duel already?" Xion impatiently asked.

"Right now," he answered, charging at the girl with his sword in hand. Since she was unarmed, she had no choice but to avoid getting hit.

"Hey you! What do you think you're-" before Sanji could complete his question, Luffy placed a hand on his shoulder. "Luffy?"

"This is her battle," he told his cook. "She accepted this. We have no right to interfere with this fight."

"But she's unarmed!" Nami reasoned. "We have to at least toss her something so she could block those strikes!"

"Don't need to," Zoro said, much to Nami's and Sanji's shock. Before they could say anything, the swordsman added, "She already has something on her." Looking back at the battle, the rest of the Straw Hats saw Xion using a key-like weapon. They were confused, since it doesn't have a blade, compared to the rapier.

"Hah! You call that a weapon?!" Mongol laughed. "I've never seen a weapon that's as ridiculous as that thing!"

"There's more to things that meets the eyes," Xion warned. "And you should never judge a book by it's cover. This may look like a decorated metal bar, but's this weapon is more than that!"

The duel continued on for minutes. Neither duelists were backing down yet. When Mongol tripped on something, he fell on his butt, leaving him open for Xion's strike. Unfortunately, her attack was blocked by one pf the weird pirate's curve blade. As she jumped back to distance herself away from any possible attack, Xion found herself surrounded by many other pirates. The Straw Hats noticed this and yelled.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Luffy started.

"You can't do that!" Nami agreed.

"Don't you have any shame in yourself?!" Zoro asked.

"You can't team up against a lady!" Sanji added. That was when they noticed something wrong with the people around them. And that would be the fact that they are so calm, eyes filled with hope.

"WHY ARE YOU GUYS SO DAMN CALM?!" Usopp asked. "AREN'T YOU AT LEAST A LITTLE WORRIED ABOUT HER?!"

"Xion will be fine," Miki told the long nose.

"You have that much faith in her?!"

"Of course. Besides, this isn't the first time that this happened." Curious to know what the kid meant, Nami was about to ask what she was saying. Though was interrupted by her, saying that she should watch the battle instead of asking questions.

Speaking of battle, Xion seems to be unfazed with the disadvantage in numbers. She just sighed and had a bored expression on her face.

"I see that you want to die honourably," Mongol observed. "Then die you shall! Kill her! I don't care about her anymore!" At that command, the weird pirates jumped, preparing to go for the kill. The Luffy and the others saw this and cried out her name, wanting her to get away before she gets killed.

Fortunately, she didn't need to move away. When she felt that they all jumped at their highest, Xion raised her Keyblade and yelled, "ZERO GRAVITY!" As soon as the attack was called, all identical pirates were floating. The pirates couldn't believe what they saw and dropped their jaws in shock. Xion counted down for some reason and had her Keyblade pointing down. When she reached down to one, she quickly yelled, "GRAVITY!" Whether or not if it was a coincidence, all the floating pirates crashed down really hard. So hard, they were all destroyed. In the process, pink glowing hearts came out and floated away. Not only that, the pirates left behind some belli and treasure.

"Can you villagers grab these things for me?" she asked out of boredom. "I'm a bit busy."

Without arguing, they all grabbed the belli and treasure. Once they gathered them all up, they went back to the sidelines. The Straw Hats wanted to ask some questions about what just happened, but felt that they should ask later.

"Now it's you and me. And your First Mate," Xion observed. "I'll give you this chance to give up and hand yourselves over to the Marines. So why don't you just make it easy and yeild already?"

"Like hell!" Mongol replied. "I've been a pirate for two years. And there's no way I'm going to hand myself over without a fight!"

"Oh? Then you want to lose honourably?" the girl guessed. "Well, I suppose it's better than giving up."

"SHUT UP! Now you've pissed me off! Time to use my devil fruit power!" When he said that, he suddenly disappeared. "I ate the Suke Suke no mi. Like its name, it allows me to become invisible. I hope you're ready, girl. No one ever survives from this power!"

'_Where have I heard of that one?_' Xion wondered, as he continued to boast about his power.. '_Oh, right. From that battle with that stupid Marine Captain._'

"Whoa! That's cool!" Luffy complimented, with his eyes sparkling. "Hey, hey! How is Xion going to get out of this one?!"

"Shouldn't you be thinking about helping her?!" Usopp scolded his captain. "And you people! Why are you all still so calm?!"

"He's right, you know!" Nami agreed. "Do you really think that Xion will win against an invisible human?"

"How about you stop worrying and just watch the battle, sis?" one of the male hostages said. "Besides, this battle is already over."

Not believing how calm these people are, navigator and sniper looked back at the battle, holding their heads.

"Well? Where am I? You're left? You're right? Behind you? Above you? In front of you? It's so hard to tell," Mongol blabbered.

"... What to do in this situation?" Xion sarcastically asked.

"Hah! You never faced anyone like me, as I thought! Though it's reasonable, since there can't be more than one kind of devil fruit."

Ignoring everything the pirate is saying, Xion raised her Keyblade again and yelled, "SPARK!" She then pulled her blade back and raised it high again. Doing so, rings of light were summoned and revolved around her. As it did so, it hit Mongol, who was behind the raven-haired girl. Hearing the sound of pain, Xion quickly turned to the pirate and ended the duel with a jumping attack. As she jumped, she yelled, "QUICK BLITZ!" and slammed the star her Keyblade on Mongol's head, therefore knocking him out.

Luffy and his crew didn't believe what they saw. Yet they believed it anyway. Ad so, they cheered for them. However, there was still someone who didn't accept what they witnessed. That is none other than Akoku.

"No... I won't accept this!" he yelled, charging towards the one who defeated his captain. "I'll kill you myself!" As he shouted that, he was knocked out by a kick and a slash from a sword.

"Thanks for the back up," Xion thanked.

"No problem," Zoro cooly replied.

"Anything for you, Xion-swan~" Sanji told her.

Luffy's eyes sparkled like never before. This is either a good thing or a bad thing, for this means that he really wants Xion to join his crew. "WHOA! Xion! That was so awesome! You gotta join my crew! We're going to the Grand Line soon to achieve our dream! What about you?! You have a dream you want to accomplish?!"

Xion thought about the offer and his questions before answering them. Before she could answer, however, a familiar voice cut her off.

"HOW CAN THEY BE SO WEAK?!" it said. "And I thought they would get her for sure! Just how strong are you?!"

'_That voice... It couldn't be!_' Xion thought. "I thought you were in the dungeon," she muttered. "How did you escape?"

A figure appeared in front of her. Just looking at his face had the villagers to back away from him. They all remembered his face. They all wished that he was dead. how unfortunate, that they all have to see him again. "I see you still remember me, Xion," he said. "I don't understand. I hired many pirates and bandits to get to this island so you can be dead. But I see that you will never go down at all."

"Why are you here, Haxel?"


	6. author's note

**Author's Note:**

**Before I update another chapter in this story, I'd like to ask all you reader's a favor. Please PM me or give a review on what Dream Eater (from Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance) should Xion partner up with. I have many ideas and I can't seem to decide. So please give me an idea and, if you want, give me a reason on why you choose this Dream Eater. If any one asks why, I feel that the story would be more interesting if I add a partner for Xion. I appreciate it everyone. The Dream Eater will be decided by me on this Friday. Thanks for reading guys. See ya!**


	7. Authors Note: Part two

**Author's Note:**

**So far I only have two suggestions. That's not enough, guys. I need all of your opinions. Which Dream Eater do you think Xion should partner up with? You can look it up on the internet about Dream Eaters in Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance. Those who gave me their suggestions, you don't need to do this. Tick tock for the others, better give me your suggestion before May 3. Thank you.**


	8. A Rematch and Newcomers

**A/N: Those who gave me their suggestions for Xion's partner, I would like to thank you for giving me your suggestions. Now, for the moment we've all been waiting for. The Dream Eater selected for Xion's partner... will be shown in this story. Sorry~. I don't spoil surprises like these. For those who will be disappointed about their choice not being chosen, I apologize. I'll make it up by making this chapter as epic as I can or ask for another possible favor in the future.**

* * *

Xion glared at the man standing before her. She, along with the kidnapped villagers, know this man well. None of them wanted to believe that _he_ is actually here.

"I asked you a question , damn it!" she raised her voice. "Why are you here?!"

"Oh, come on," Haxel sarcastically whined. "I thought you miss me during these past six months. I know I do."

"Don't screw with me!" Xion snapped. "We all remembered the pain you caused. In fact, I still remember, six months ago, YOU TRIED TO TAKE EVERYONE'S LIVES! And you expect me, no, everyone here, to easily forget that?! There's a reason why the Marines replaced you and kept you in the dungeon!"

"Yes. I know. And I also know the reason," Haxel calmly said. "It's all... BECAUSE OF YOU, STARLIGHT BLADE!"

"What did I do?! Are you trying to hide the fact that you did so many harm to the people of this island when you were a captain?! Because that's what it sounds like to me!"

"I'm not hiding from anything. Before you came to this island, everything was perfect. The resect people gave me, the people who I chose to join the Marines for any reason, the fear in people's eyes when they show any disrespect for me. Everything was perfect, until you came! This is all _your_ fault!"

"... So basically you are hiding from the truth," Xion and the hostages summarized.

"I'M NOT HIDING FROM ANYTHING! I _WAS_ SPEAKING THE TRUTH!" Haxel defended.

"Hey Xion. Who is that guy?" Luffy asked.

"My first opponent," she told him. "He used to be a Marine Captain. But since he lost against me and everyone here hates him, he lost the title of a Marine Captain and was kicked out."

"That was because of you!" the ex-marine in question protested.

"He was so selfish," the raven-haired girl continued, ignoring the zoan devil fruit user. "The day I fought him, before we fought, he tried to force this village's best doctor to join his unit. He even came to a conclusion to kill everyone here since the doctor said that he can't turn his back on them."

"What?! That's horrible!" Nami stated.

"I know, right?"

"STOP IGNORING ME!" Haxel snapped, nearly blowing everyone away with his voice. "Besides, if the old geezer agreed to come along, I wouldn't kill anyone here. It was his decision, and he chose the death of everyone."

"LIKE HELL HE DID!" Xion and company, except the Straw Hats of course, screamed, knocking him off-balance.

"Xion! Don't negotiate with that creep!" a female hostage told her.

"Lisa is right! Just kill him!" a male hostage added.

"Kill the bad guy! Get him!" a younger hostage followed.

"Get him for daddy!" Miki continued.

Agreeing with ending his life, Xion got herself in her battle position. "I couldn't agree more with any of you guys," she told them. "He deserves death for trying to kill everyone, including the women, children, wounded and sickly."

"HE WHAT?!" the straw hats questioned.

"How dare he," Sanji then said.

"That guy has no pride at all," Zoro followed.

"Luffy, should we give her a hand?" Usopp asked.

"It's the least we could do for her," Nami agreed.

"... Okay. As captain, I say... Let's help Xion," Luffy said, with a determined face.

That order surprised everyone except for Luffy and his crew. They're pirates, yet they decided to help them. They're the first pirate group to give aid to Xion in a battle. Enev though...

"You think you can fool us!" "We won't fall for your stupid tricks, pirates!" "How about you just go away already?!" "You'll just hold Starlight Blade back!" All the hostages seem to disagree with the idea, assuming that they would pretend to fight with her, only to gain her trust and turn back on her.

"They really hate pirates. don't they?" Usopp wondered.

"No kidding," Zoro agreed.

The shouting continued and Xion couldn't take it anymore. "SHUT UP! I don't care if any of you has a grudge against them. I was with them for some time now, and of what I see, they can be trusted." When they saw her say that with a serious face, they realized that they should cheer for the Straw Hats as well.

"Heheheh... Hahahahaha. How ironic," Haxel said, grabbing everyone's attention. "You always chased pirates off of the island and yet you accepted help from one? People looked up to you, and you're abondoning their expectations. What do you have to say to yourself now, you disgrace for a hero?"

"Hey you! Don't call Xion-san-"

"Shut up, Sanji," Luffy ordered. "This isn't something you have to get involve in."

"You know Haxel, you're right," Xion agreed. "I always take out pirates and bandits. However, that was because they were disturbing the peace of this island. Like there are different Marines, there are different pirates. Which explains why I don't immediately take them out until a Marine comes and tells me about them attacking."

"You're just saying that. No pirates are good."

"And no Marines are bad. Then tell me, if that's true, then what happened to your title as captain and why is it that you were kicked out of your unit?"

"I JUST SAID THAT IT WAS YOUR FAULT! YOUR'S YOU IMBECILE!" Haxel snapped, making a demon-like face. "You've made a fool out of me once too many times. And for that you must pay! Come out, Heartless!" When he gave that command, many creatures that looked like the ones from Xion's dream appeared from the ground and more of those weird pirates just came out of nowhere.

"What was that just now?! That was so cool!" Luffy exclaimed, in a happy tone.

"How is that cool?!" everyone asked.

"Oh? I see someone is interested in these things," Haxel observed. "Then I'll tell you; these creatures are known as Heartless. The ones from the ground are Shadows while the ones that suddenly appeared are known as Pirates."

"Well aren't those names obvious?"

"What's with those faces?! Anyway, Heartless are beings of darkness that manifest in two forms: Purebloods, like the Shadows, and Emblems, like the Pirates. Purebloods are darkness that are born in people's hearts. Emblem Heartless, on the other hand, were people that were turned into Heartless by the Purebloods." That information shocked everyone, even Luffy. "See, once a Pureblood Heartless attacks a human, their hearts gets consumed by the Heartless. Afterwards, their stolen hearts becomes Emblems."

"So then... All this time... I..." Xion was at loss for words, for she promised herself to never attack innocent people.

"That's right, Starlight. All this time, you were attacking innocent lives! Therefore, you don't deserve to be a hero! That title, belongs to me." Seeing that she's standing in shock, Haxel found it as an opportunity to kill her. "Get her!" he ordered some of the beings of darkness.

Three Pirates and two Shadows did as told and charged at the girl in black. Xion heard the villagers to tell her to get out of the way or deflect them. Problem is, she couldn't. She killed at least thousands of those things during the past six months. If she fights them, it'll mean killing more innocents. If she dies, well it's not going to be any different than it is now. Even if she dies, it's not going to change the fact that she destroyed so many people. And so, she closed her eyes and just stood there, waiting for the attack to come. And waited... and waited... and waited... and- Hang on! Something's not right here! The attack should've hit her by now!

Out of curiosity, Xion took a peek at what happened and saw the Straw Hat Pirates protecting her. Luffy using his fist, Zoro with his swords, Nami with her bow staff, Usopp with his slingshot and Sanji with his kick. This scene had everyone speechless, for obvious reasons.

"Whew. That was close," Luffy stated. The straw hat then turned to Xion and asked, "Hey, you. Why didn't you take them out?"

"Why? Isn't it obvious?" Xion asked back. "I killed many of them, and they're all innocent people! I promised myself that I won't kill any innocents. Yet during these six months, I killed and destroyed thousands of them! You expect me to do the same for the rest?! If so, then you guys are nothing different from the previous pirates after all. I'd rather die than continue to kill more of these things!"

"... Xion. Not everyone's lives can be spared," Luffy told her.

"The guy has a point," Zoro agreed. "Just look at these things. Do they really look innocent? From what I see, they're nothing but monsters who're hungry for blood."

"Xion-san, I understand how you feel, however, he said that they _used_ to be innocent," Sanji reminded. "So doesn't that mean that they are not the same people that they once were?" Xion widened her eyes in realization.

'_**They're right,**_' a familiar voice in her head agreed. '_**Once a human becomes a Heartless, they are not their same, innocent self. Doesn't matter if they are children or women, they become these monsters that you've been seeing these past six months. Also, once their destroyed as an Emblem Heartless, they will go back to the place where they once came from.**_'

"Come on, Xion," Nami called, holding out her hand. "Let's beat this guy, together."

"I-i-i'll back you up, Xion," Usopp said, as we see him next to the other villagers.

"Why the hell are you over there?!" she and the people asked with demon-like faces.

"Anyway, Xion, you're not fighting these guys alone," Luffy supported, cracking his knuckles. "Just leave the small fries to us. Take care of that guy."

"... You all have a point," the raven-haired girl sighed. "These things aren't humans anyway. Besides, if I destroy them, at least they would have a nice time in the afterlife."

'_**Hey, hey.**_'

'_That's just a joke. Besides, they don't know about it._'

'_**Touche.**_'

"Heh. What makes you think that?" Haxel asked. "How do you know if they will forgive you?"

"Because they know who started the fight," Xion simply answered. "They were the ones who always start to attack the island. And the ones that made them is mostly the leader. In other words, you, Haxel! Once Luffy and the others beat your little sidekicks, I'll crush you!"

"Then let's see them try! Get 'em!" Haxel commanded every last Shadows and Pirates.

"Let's go!" Luffy ordered his crew.

Luffy punched every Heartless that comes to him with a grin on his face. He packs quite a strong punch. Zoro was easily sweeping away some heartless with his sword. Xion watched him fight in amazement as he destroyed them all with great skill. As for Sanji, he was fighting like a martial artist, only thing is that he just kicks them. Still, it amazes her how they fight.

'_Wait a minute,_' she then thought. '_Aren't we missing someone?_'

"Get them, you three!" a certain voice cheered.

Xion turned to the voice and saw Nami next to Usopp, cheering with him. "WHY ARE YOU OVER THERE?!" she screamed, her teeth looking like razors. "AREN'T YOU A FIGHTER?!"

"How rude!" Nami screamed back. "Don't make it sound like I'm a monster like them!"

"I never said that!"

"Now, now," Usopp tried to calm her. "Those three are more than enough to take care of those things. Probably."

"How is 'probably' a good thing?!" the girl in black and the watching villagers irritatedly demanded.

"Just calm down and watch the battle!" Nami ordered them, with her teeth looking like razors. Doing as told, Xion and the rest watched the battle.

As the fight goes on, Luffy, Zoro and Sanji had enough of going easy on them. (**A/N: What? You didn't expect them to be as weak or even weaker than Heartless like Shadows and Pirates, did you?**) The Monster Trio glanced at each other and know that they all have the same thought. Satisfied with the answer each has, they all got serious.

Sanji got on one hand and kicked a pirate in the ribs. "Cotelette(Rib)," he said. He then started to spin and yelled, "Selle(Lower Back)!" That spin kick blew the nearby Heartless away and disintegrated them. The scene made everyone watching, except Nami and Usopp, speechless.

'_Su... sugoi,_' they all thought.

Next off is Zoro, who disarmed two Pirates from their weapons and grabed them, putting his sword in his mouth.

"Three swords?" Xion asked to no one in particular.

Zoro then spun the swords and created a tornado, slashing and blowing away the Heartless around him. "Tatsu... MAKI(Dragon... TWISTER)!" This surprised Xion and company even further. None of them can believe their eyes at all.

As for Luffy's fight, either he's stalling or he's actually scared. Why? He's running around like a chicken without a head!

"Why the hell aren't you fighting?!" Xion asked, annoyed with the lack of fighters in this crew. One of them being the captain! Or so she thought. '_Can these people really survive on the Grand Line like this?!_' When Luffy ran past a rock, his arm somehow got stuck to it. No, to be more precise, he held on to it and kept running, causing his arm to stretch! The scene of his stretchy arm caused everyone, (again) except Nami and Usopp, to drop their jaws and widen their eyes in extreme shock.

"His arm just stretched!" Miki yelled out. "What is he?!"

"Luffy's a rubberman," Usopp answered the little girl. "He ate a devil's fruit called the Gomu Gomu no mi. Therefore, every part of his body can stretch."

"Devil's fruit? I think I heard about them from somewhere but..." Xion whispered, still not believing what she's seeing.

"Heh. Too bad for you," Luffy said to the Heartless chasing him. "Gomu Gomu no Rocket!" As soon as he finished calling that attack, he actually rocketed himself towards the Shadows and Pirates. He then followed it up with swift punches on them. "Gomu Gomu no Gatling!" And so, all the Shadows and Pirates sent by Haxel were all defeated, leaving him the only opponent standing.

"This can't be happening!" he objected. "I will never accept this! I was suppose to be the hero! Not some girl who just shows up on the island! Not some stranger that the world knows nothing about! And definitely not someone who doesn't remember her own past!"

When he shouted those last words, it got the straw hats absolute attention. They all didn't get what he meant. However, they know that it's something private, so they didn't dare ask Xion what he meant. All except for one specific character.

"Hey, Xion," Luffy called. "What's this guy talking about?"

'_IDIOT!_' his crewmates mentally yelled. '_Don't ask her something she doesn't want to talk about?!_'

Before Xion could say that it's not his place to know, Haxel answered for her. "You want to know, huh? Then I'll tell you what I know about her since we first met! That girl, ever since she first regained conscious when she somehow got on this island, she doesn't remember one measly little thing about her past!" That information about Xion had the pirates speechless. "Yet even though she doesn't remember a thing, the way she fights, it's as though she's lying! But when you look at her when people wants to know about her past, she doesn't remember a thing about it! Well I don't buy it. Besides, I looked up on that weapon she uses. Although I didn't understand the language in the book where I found the information, that thing is a dangerous weapon!" That last part about the Keyblade had everyone to widen their eyes in fear. "Without at doubt, she's using all of you! Gaining your trusts! Waiting for a chance to turn on you so she could kill you!"

"You're wrong!" Xion protested. "I'll never do such a thing to this island! The people here took me in as one of their own. And for that I owe them. Especially the doctor of this island. If it wasn't for him, I would've been dead six months ago. That's why I promised. Promised that I'll never harm any innocent people, even if it costs me my life!"

Almost as if on cue, Luffy stretched his arm out and punched Haxel in the face, shutting him up. "Just as Xion said," he spoke. "If someone did something good to you, it's natural to repay them. If someone can't do something like that to another, they should just go away! Besides, old man, you remind me too much like that axe ossan!"

"Old man?!" Haxel repeated. "How rude of you! I'm still in my thirties! I'm not that old! For calling me that you die!" At that point, Haxel transformed into his panther form. "Don't think that my powers are like last time, girl. These last six months in that sick prison, I've been training my body. I thank you kindly if you don't dare to underestimate me!"

"... Where's the difference?" the raven-haired girl asked. "All I still see is a big black pussy-cat." When she said that, unlike last time, Haxel is the only one with his mouth wide open in shock. "Also, you're not the only one who was busy training these past six months. I've been training almost non-stop. You can ask the villagers if you don't believe me."

"I don't care how much stronger you've gotten. I highly doubt that this body is not enough to kill you," Haxel continued to boast. "Now then, I hope you don't mind if I add another playmate."

When he said that, something came out of nowhere from a small smoke. Appearing from it is a dark purple and dark blue, six-legged cat. Its knee stripes are indigo and light green and the paws are also light green. The whiskers and collar are both yellow with a faint shade of dark purple. The eyes are red and the bells on its ears and collar are silver. As for its note-like tail, it's lower part is yellow and transitions into a dark purple.

"Meet my partner, Nightmare Necho," the ex-marine introduced. "While I was in my 'new home', this little thing just appeared with those Heartless. Thanks to this thing, I've gotten much stronger compared to last time."

"I'd like to see it with my own eyes instead of hearing it, your powers that is," Xion told the boastful devil fruit user.

"Ha! You think you can beat the two of us?!"

"I never said I'm fighting you and the cat. Besides, I have a partner as well." That told, Xion placed her pointer and her thumb in her mouth and loudly whistled. Once that whistle sounded, there was a sound of running.

Everyone, except the villagers and Xion, looked towards the source of the sound and saw a trail of dust coming their way. When one that caused the dust stopped at the battle area, more dust came, causing almost everyone to cough.

As soon as the dust faded, they all got a good look at the one that ran here. It was a rabbit with a blue party hat and a blue cape.

"Meet my partner, or should I say Dream Eater, a Majik Lapin," Xion introduced. "Surprised aren't you? You thought you, and only you, have the rarest species in the world. That's where you're wrong.

"Allow me to explain. The Dream Eaters are actually made by someone from a long time ago. However, they were all destroyed by the time their creator died. The only thing that can either bring them back or create new ones are the recipes that the creator has to make them. There are a total of fifty-one recipes that are scattered all over the world. I don't know how you got one without knowing that, but what I do know is that you're working for someone. You didn't achieve this power with only training with your Dream Eater; you were given those powers.

"Don't try to hide anything from me. I can already feel the darkness flowing within you. I never felt that darkness in you when we first met. I don't know how, but I've been feeling that kind of darkness ever since my first encounter with the Heartless."

Those words got Haxel completely speechless. He didn't think that she would know this kind of thing. In fact, what confused him even more is how she knows these kind of things. There was nothing in any islands' history about this. So how does she know this? Pushing these thoughts aside, he ordered his Nightmare Necho to attack her partner. This started their brawl.

In the fight between Dream Eaters, Nightmare Necho and the Majik Lapin were somewhat evenly matched. They were fighting like real animals. That was until the rabbit fired a fireball at the kitty. As for the battle between Xion and Haxel, Haxel was getting Xion cornered by attacking with his claws, having her to block them with her Keyblade. Most of the audience were cheering for her and her partner, while the Straw Hat Pirates were just gaping at the battle.

"Wha... what is this?" Usopp asked. "What are those small things? How did that use magic?"

"Lapin-chan is a Dream Eater," Miki explained. "Like Xion onee-san said, they're creatures who were once created by someone. The only thing that person left are all the recipes for all the Dream Eaters."

"And how does she know what those things are called?" Zoro asked.

"There was a note about them with the recipe on making as well as a book to collect the rest of them. Though I don't know why those would be on this island. Things that important should be found in the Grand Line, shouldn't it?" she then asked the pirates.

"I never heard of a recipe for making living creatures," Sanji said. "Though this is coming from a chef."

"I never heard of Dream Eaters 'til now," Nami told them. "I've read a lot of books and I never saw a single picture or information on them."

"GO FOR IT! XION! RABBIT!" Luffy cheered for both, not paying attention to the conversation.

Back to the said battle with the Dream Eaters, the rabbit was faring quite well with the note-tailed cat. It kept throwing fireballs and, with its ears, slingshoted itself towards the feline as well as attacking it with its ears. The cat tried to get it with it's summoned explosive notes. Unfortunately for it, the rabbit only deflected them with the fireballs. When the Nightmare Necho got weak, Majik Lapin finished it off by summoning ice crystals from the ground, impaling the kitty and destroying it into a black crystal.

On to the battle between Haxel and Xion, he noticed the defeat of his pet and was disappointed in it. After landing another strike at the Keyblade weilder, who block the attack, he jumped back to his little friend and glared at the on that defeated it, as Xion ran over to her partner.

"Had enough?" she asked.

"Like hell," he answered. "I wasn't even at my full strength with this thing." The moment he said that, he and the feline were both glowing. Then they were both merging together. The next thing any of them know, Haxel became a full-lion form of Nightmare Mane. "Hahah! How about this, girl?! I doubt that you know about this, do you?!" he then boasted.

"What is he now?! That's so cool!" Luffy commented.

"Don't comment the enemy!" his crewmates yelled.

"What's with the straw hat onii-chan?" Miki asked.

"Trust me, little girl. You don't want to know," Nami replied.

"Well then, Starlight Blade. What are you going to do now? Fight me and die, run away with your tail between your legs, or give up and become my servant? Your choice."

"... Let me say two things," Xion calmly spoke. "One, I choose the first choice, but leave out the dying part. And two, I do know about that." The second statement got the panther-monster to widen his eyes in shock again.

"D... don't lie to me," he tried to protest. "There's no way you know how to do this. I was told that no one knew the secrets in these creatures _true_ powers!"

"Whoever told you was wrong. This was also in that note that the first creator wrote. What you used is called Link Action. However, by the looks of it, you don't seem to have it stabalize."

"Stabalize? This thing? Don't make me laugh!" Haxel then lunged himself towards the raven-haired girl and the rabbit, who jumped out of the way. "What do you know about this power? It's not like you have achieved it yourself! Don't you dare look down at me!"

"That is where you're wrong, stupid feline!" Xion snapped. "Besides, there are two Link Actions. You've demonstrated one, and it's unstabalized. Let me show you the other _and_ it being stabalized. Lapin!" The rabbit made a small noise when it heard its name, giving her the okay at what she had in mind. "LINK ACTION! SWING FLING!" she yelled out, as they both charged towards Haxel, who was ready to take whatever they had in store for him. Well, almost everything.

Instead of absorbing the Dream Eater like the ex-marine, Xion was grabbed by the legs by Lapin. It then swung her around while still charging at the beast. Haxel wasn't expecting a spin attack from them, for he assumed that they would combine into one, not work together. Thanks to this, he got continuous damage from Xion's Keyblade, as it kept hitting him in the ribs, thighs, and legs. When he got the chance, Haxel quickly jumped into the air, getting away from the next swing and decided to break their contract with a dive on Lapin. Fortunately, before he could dive down, Lapin quickly swung Xion over to the pantherman. Once they were close enough, Xion slammed the flat side of her weapon onto his head, causing him to crash land on the ground. Though before he landed, the magic rabbit summoned more ice crystals from the ground just below Haxel. Due to this, Haxel got impaled, therefore is dead or, if he survived, unconscious. And with this, victory goes to the Xion-and-Lapin duo.

With that result, everyone, Straw Hats included, cheered and applauded for them.

"That was amazing," Nami complimented.

"I'm amazed myself," Zoro agreed.

"Xion-swan~. I'm in love with you now~," Sanji told the heroine in his usual lovey-dovey mode.

"That went as I planned," Usopp lied, as usual, to get the kids to look up to him.

"Liar," said the surrounding children, seeing through his lie.

"AWESOME! XION! RABBIT!" Luffy complimented. He then ran up to them and proposed them. "You guys are really strong. How would you two like to be a pirate?"

That got everyone's jaws dropped at that proposal. They wanted to give him some beating or scolding for giving that idea. Though Xion beat them to it, with a positive answer.

"Sure thing, Luffy." That answer surprised them even more. They all wanted to ask Xion why. Well, they being the villagers. Though once again, the girl beat them to it. "I've been on this island for too long. Even though it's only months, to me, it felt like years. You heard what Haxel said earlier. I still want to know more about myself. And due to my strength and the fact that I beat so many criminals and Heartless during these past months, my best clue is the Grand Line. If I want to get the rest of my memories back, I think it's best if I join a pirate crew that's also heading there. Aside from that, I still need to find the rest of the Dream Eater recipes. According to the note that the creator wrote, the rest of the recipes are there. I'm planing on getting them all, no matter what."

That speech touched them. They all know how desperate she is in wanting to remember the rest of her previous life. And as she said, the best place to go to retrieve them and the rest of the Dream Eater recipes is none other than the Grand Line.

"Then welcome aboard, mates," Luffy welcomed.

"It's good to be on board, captain," Xion thanked. Lapin just nodded in agreement.

"All right, guys! Let's have a party for our two new crewmates and a farewell pary for her and the people of this island!" the captain suggested. Everyone in the area cheered in agreement and went off into town to tell the news.

* * *

That night, everyone was partying like there is no tomorrow. They were constantly drinking, singing, dancing and eating, in Luffy's case. While they were partying, Xion was at home, in her room, packing. There wasn't much for her to pack really. All she packed was some spare clothes, her training equipment, a Dream Eater's kit. In that kit was a book, in which she has yet to test, Dream Eaters information guide, and a Drean Eaters recipe book, which has almost all the pages ripped out. The only page that's in that book is the recipe for making Majik Lapins. She also kept the note that was in that near-empty book in her pocket. It says:

"To those who are reading this,  
I see you are a Keyblade weilder, like me.  
Before I give my request to you, let me just say that within this book are recipes for making living creatures known as the Dream Eaters.  
They were my creation.  
They were my pride and joy.  
However, most people saw this as a way to make money.  
I never want my creations to be some pets that do circus tricks.  
And so, I ask you, Chosen of the Keyblade, to please take my place and take care of my creations.  
If you open the recipe book, you would find one page of recipe for only one Dream Eater.  
I wouldn't blame you if you get upset with me,  
For I had to rip out most of the recipes and hid them in all over the world.  
Although, most of them is in the Grand Line.  
I entrust you to please fulfill this dead man's wish and please gather all the recipes and recreate new Dream Eaters out of them.  
As you create them, place each species in each cards that are in the information guide.  
This way, you'd be able to summon and recall any Dream Eaters you've created.  
And before I forget and die, there are various of things you can do with the Dream Eaters in battle.  
If you want to know what, they will be in the guide.  
I thank you, fellow Keyblade weilder, for fulfilling my request."

That's how the note goes. The first creator must be so desperate. Xion couldn't turn her back on this person. Dead or not, it was still a request. For all she knows, the guy might be watching her from above. She has to go to the Grand Line for him and herself. Besides, if she goes there, she might be able to remember more about herself.

"Once I'm done with the Grand Line, I'll try to convince Luffy to let me go to other seas to look for the rest," she told herself. "There's a total pf fifty-one Dream Eaters, according to the number of cards that are in that book. And all the Dream Eaters will be a great help in battle.

"Well, I should finish packing and head back to the party. But first, what will I do with my savings? I should bring them along. But where am I going to hide them? I heard from Usopp that Nami would do anything to get rich. And due to me constantly fighting pirates and bandits, I have lots of belli." She thought for a moment what she should do with her money. "I should get myself a safe before I leave this island." That idea said, she continued packing. When she was done, she went back to the party.

* * *

The next day, the Straw Hat Pirates were on the ship, waiting for their new crewmate. All the villagers were there as well, wanting to see her off and wish her luck.

"Where is she?" Luffy asked.

"You think she changed her mind?" Zoro asked.

"WHAT?! How could she?! My beloved Xion-swan!" Sanji cried.

"She's probably saying some last minute training," Miki guessed. "She always get up early to do training."

"But we need to go now," Luffy complained, wanting to hurry on to the Grand Line.

"Guys!" a familiar voice called. Everyone jerked their head up and saw Xion running to them. "Sorry for the delay! I wanted to get some things!"

"It's all right! As long as you're still coming along with us!"

The Keyblade weilder came to a stop when she got to the ship to catch her breath. "I... just wanted to get... some things... before we go," she explained.

"That would explain the extra weight on your back," Usopp said, pointing out a large safe on her back and a bag of equipments. "Are you really going to bring all of that with you?" he asked.

"Of course. We're going to the Grand Line, after all. I need to train while we're there when we come across any strong opponents."

"Okay but, what's with the safe?" Nami joined.

"I heard how crazy and selfish you are when it comes to belli, so I decided to get this before we go." She should not have said that, for Nami assumed that she has a lot of belli on her. "And I meant for me and the guys," she quickly corrected, seeing the navigator's eyes turn into belli.

"Just hurry up and get on! The Grand Line isn't waiting forever," Luffy tried to convince her.

"It's not even going anywhere," Xion spoke back. The girl turned to the villagers to give one final good-bye before she left. It was hard, especially to Miki and her family. "I'll be leaving now. I don't know when I'll be back, but I promise that I will."

"We know you would, Xion," Mike told her.

"Just promise us that you'll be safe," Mia pleaded.

"I will," she replied. Turning to Miki and bending down to her eye level, she said, "Miki, can you promise me something?" Miki slowly looked up to face her in the eyes. "While I'm gone, I want you to protect this village for me with your friends. You guys always say that you'll protect this place when I'm going out to regain the rest of my memories. This is the best time to do it. And I promise that when I come back, I might even give you guys a little spar. Is that okay with you?"

When she asked that question, Miki just hugged her. "You promise?" she asked, trying not to cry.

"Definitely," she replied, hugging back. Ending the hug, Xion walked up to the ship, only to be stopped by something.

"STARLIGHT BLADE!" she and the rest of her new crew turned to the voice and saw all the Marines standing before them. Their presence was enough to have them to panic, telling Xion to hurry on board. "You forgot something," a Marine then shouted, throwing something to her. "That is for defeating Mongol the other day. It is your rewarded belli."

"Got it." Xion then got on board of the ship and gave a final good-bye to the island, as they left, watching the Marines salute for their forever heroine. The rest of the crew saw this and were either surprised or happy. Now the next adventure awaits.


	9. Entering Loguetown and a Tournament

**A/N: Starting from here, this story will be based on Xion's point of view. Enjoy!:)**

* * *

It's been a couple of days since we left the island. The Going Merry was just minding its own business on this peaceful day, sailing to the next island. According to Nami, the next island will be Loguetown, the place where the previous Pirate King was born and died. Luffy was excited to be there, so he could see the spot where the previous king died.

While we were sailing, I was doing my usual training. Mastering my Keyblade, learning some more magic from the voice in my head and dreams, and sparring with Lapin, whom I sealed within a card that was in the Dream Eaters Instruction Guide, which I've managed to master on the day of our departure before we left. It was actually so simple, I don't know why I didn't figure it out.

Speaking of that, I could still remember my crewmates' faces when they first saw that 'trick'.

* * *

*FLASHBACK*

The island was out of sight, everyone was about to go back into their positions when they all just realized something.

"Say Xion. Where's that rabbit?" Luffy asked.

"Now that you've mentioned it, we left without it," Usopp pointed out. "Should we go back for it?"

"There's no need for that," I told them.

"What do you mean?" Zoro asked. "Did it stay behind to protect the island with those kids?"

"No."

"Then what do you mean?" Nami asked, confused.

Instead of answering her question, I took out a card, which caused more confusion. "Summon: Majik Lapin," I said, as the card glew. A small beam of light shot out of the card and hit Luffy in the face. The light then landed on the deck and Lapin was formed.

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?!" they all asked, eyes bugging out a bit and jaws dropping. "WAS THAT MAGIC?!"

"Sure Lapin can do some magic, but that's not one of it's trick," I told them. "See these cards allows me to summon and call back a Dream Eater. I just realized how it works before we left. Which is one of the reason why I was late."

"Oh, I see," they all said in unison, balling their fist and placing it on thier palms. I have a strange feeling like I will be ask a lot of questions in the future.

* * *

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Smiling a bit from remembering those funny faces of their's, I took a quick break from training. Coincidentally, we arrived at Loguetown. Speaking of Loguetown, I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting something about this place. Almost as though I want to meet someone before doing anything else while being here. But what? My thoughts were interrupted by Nami, who was calling me while she and everyone else got off Merry after docking her.

"What a huge town!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Lots of pirates come to this town before heading to the Grand Line," Nami explained. "You can get whatever you want here."

"Okay. I'll get some cool things for my upcoming adventure," Usopp told us.

"I bet there are lots of good food to be checked out here," Sanji guessed. His calm face changed completely when he added, "And lots of good women."

"There are some things that I want to buy," Zoro thought out loud.

Nami heard that and asked, "And how would you do that? You're totally broke, aren't you?"

"I'll check out the execution platform," Luffy said, running off. "I want to see it. The place where the Pirate King was executed!"

"Luffy, wait! We haven't decided where we'll meet up!" I screamed. Unfortunately, he was arleady out of sight. Just how fast can this guy run? "And there he goes," I muttered.

"What about you, Xion?" Nami asked. "Do you want to borrow some money?"

"Don't do it," Zoro warned me. "You'll then regret it." When he said that, he earned a hit in the head by our navigator.

"I'm good, really," I replied, sweating a bit at Nami's strength. "I still have the money I got from the Marines for handing in Mongol. As for what I'll be doing, I'll just wander around and buy whatever catches my eyes." With that, the five of us went our seperate ways.

* * *

As I planned, I just wandered around town, looking at the shops to see if there's anything that I wanted to buy. That's when I spotted a compass shop. Now that I think about it, I heard from some pirates who stopped by at Tanoshi Island who were going to go to the Grand Line that they needed something called a Log Pose when they get there. Seeing that compass shop, I decided to go in and see if they have one of those Log Pose.

I was amazed by the amount of compasses this place has. They were all the same. Except that, for compasses, they don't have any letter on them, just an arrow. And not only that, they're all in a sphere. 'Are these the Log Pose they were talking about?' I wondered.

"A customer?" asked an old voice. "Are you a pirate?" I turned to the voice and saw an old man in a white cloak. "If you are, I assume you're heading to the Grand Line, aren't you?"

"Yes sir," I replied, unsure what the old man was thinking.

"I see. Then I assume that you are also here to buy a Log Pose, right?"

"If I may ask, what is a Log Pose?"

"You don't know what a Log Pose is? Then that would mean that you just started this pirate business, didn't you?" I nodded my head at the question. "I see. Well, young one, a Log Pose is a compass that only works in the Grand Line. Why is it the only compass you ask? Because unlike other islands, the islands in the Grand Line have a strong magnetic field that messes up a normal compasses sense of direction, while the Log Pose is a special compass that can remember the magnetic fields. It's impossible to navigate in that sea without one."

"... When you said something about magnetic fields, what do you mean by that?" I asked the shop keeper. "Do you mean that the Log Pose can pinpoint any island?"

"When you put it that way, that'd be a yes. However, in each island, there are different times for each to have it to reset to pinpoint the next island. For example, it takes a day for the Log Pose to reset on one island while it takes a year for it to reset in another island."

"I see. Then those things is a must to get for pirates who wants to go to the Grand Line," I thought out loud. "I'll take two, in case if if something happens to one of them."

"Wise choice indeed," the old man said. "That'll be 1,000,000 belli."

'_Must be hard to come across,_' I thought, paying the old man the one million for two Log Pose.

I exited the store and explored some more. While I was wandering, I saw group of guys hitting on a shy girl.

"Come on, girl," the large guy of that group, who I assumed was the leader, complained. "We just want you to come play with us for a while."

"I... don't want to," the shy girl told him. "I have to get back home."

"What's the rush? It's not like we're going to kidnap you. Just relax and come with us already, or you'll be in a world of hurt." When he said that, I couldn't stand back and watch this any longer.

"Hey!" I called. "She said to leave her alone. Is leaving a girl alone that hard for you guys?! Are you stupid or something?!" When I asked that question, I heard some gasps and whispers from the townspeople who were watching. Speaking of them, why didn't any of them bother to help the poor girl?

"And who are you suppose to be?" the leader asked. "Don't you know who I am?"

"I'm Xion. And I don't give a damn on who you are," I answered.

"Hey girl!" one of the guys in his group called. "You better not provoke the boss! He'll kill anyome who opposes him!"

'_And the Marines are doing nothing to stop that? Hmph. They're even worse than I thought,_' I mentally said. "Like I care about that. I highly doubt that he can lay a finger on me."

Now that provoked him. "You'll pay for that!" he yelled, charging at me with a sword. I saw through his attack and just ducked from his slash. Instantly after the blade of his sword went pass me, I quickly kicked him in the back of his head and reverse kicked him back to his group.

The whole audience were stunned to see that happening. The large man's group members were worried about their boss, who slowly stood back up.

"I was caught off guard," he excused. "I didn't think that you'd be this strong for a girl."

"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that I'm weak," I told him. "Now then, how about you get out of my face and leave the girl alone."

"Heh. I'll just let you live for now, girly. Consider yourself lucky on that. The next time we meet, I'll definitely crush you."

"You? Crush me? That's way beyond impossible," I provoked.

"I'll just kill you now!" the leader screeched, being held back by his underlings. He then had an expression that says, 'I have a devious idea.' "On second thought, there's a weapon fight tournament today in the center of town, at 3 o' clock" he said. "Sign up there so we could have a duel. Unless if you're scared."

"I'm not saying this because I'm scared, otherwise I wouldn't have the guts to kick you twice just now, but I don't fight meaningless battles. In other words, what do I get if I win in that tournament?"

"The reward is the five-year title as the strongest person in the East Blue and the reward of 1,000,000 belli. You get the title, everyone will give you the respect you want for five years."

"... I'm not interested in the title, but I'll accept the money," I said. "You got yourself a challenge. And I hope you're ready to taste defeat."

"Hah! As if! I held this title for fifteen years and no one has ever beat me!" the guy boasted.

"No one except this one, I bet," I provoked.

The large man ignored that insult and just walked away with his men following. Things got a bit too quiet, I was feeling uncomfortable.

"Um... Thank you... for sticking up for me..." the shy girl thanked.

"I was only doing what was right," I told her, walking away. "But you're welcome."

* * *

It was two fifty and I was in the center of Loguetown. I signed up for that weapon fight that the large guy was talking about. And I have to say, there are a lot of people here. My guess though for their reason to sign up was for the money, like me. I searched through the crowd to see if that jerk was here. I didn't have enough time to do so because of the announcer.

"Ladies and gentlemen! I will now announce that the Loguetown's Weapon Tournament will now commence!" he said. "I am your announcer, Masaru! Now then I'll explain the rules of this tournament for the newcomers! You will use any weapon that suits you! Be it close-range or long-range weapons! However, you may not use any devil fruit power for those who are devil fruit users, for it won't be a fair fight if you do! For those who are non-devil fruit users, you may not use any weapons that are made of sea stone, for that will weaken the hammers and become an unfair fight! If you don't have your own weapon, you're more than welcome to borrow a weapon from our blacksmith!"

'_So no magic for me,_' I thought to myself. '_Same with Dream Eaters I bet. Guess I'm on my own for this one._'

"And now that the rules have been explained, let's prepare ourselves for battle!" he screamed, causing the contestants and the whole audience to cheer. "Now then, without further ado, fighters, be sure you have your number!" I took out my number, which is number 31. "Now then, if you would all please look up at this board." We all did as told. "If you see a number that's in the same column as your number, that's the person you have to fight against! 64 contestants, 1 winner! Who will that be?! Let's find out and let's battle!"

I searched for my number and found it in the same column with someone that has a 15. It just so happens that my battle is the first battle of this round. Before people will get suspicious with me, I quickly summoned Starlight and walked into the battle area.

"Now then, for our first round, on my left is the man who crushes boulders, Andy! Otherwise known as Rock Crusher!" Masaru introduced, as a huge man with a big-ass hammer walked into the field. "And on my right is the newbee, Xion! Otherwise known as Starlight Blade!" I walked in with Keyblade in hand and looked up at my opponent. I heard some people giving me insults behind my back. My guess was because of my Keyblade. Heh. Wait till they see the outcome of this match.

"I hope you don't cry on me, girl," the big guy said.

"That's the last thing I'll ever do," I told him, getting into my battle position.

"Ah yes! Before I forget, for those who are new, you can win in this tournament by knocking your opponent out or getting him out of the battlefield!" Masaru added. "Now then, LET'S BATTLE!"

When the referee blew his whistle to start the fight, the big man charged at me with his hammer, which I easily dodged from. Seeing a quick opening, I knocked him out with the back of my Keyblade, therefore giving him a bloody, broken nose and losing a tooth or two. Gasps filled the air, as the audience didn't believe what had just happened.

"W-winner: Xion!" the referee announced, declaring my victory.

"What an unexpected result!" the announcer shouted. "Xion knocked out the Rock Crusher, who's about three times her size! What an unexpected turn-around!"

'_Turn-around?_' I mentally repeated. '_I wouldn't even call that a spar. Despite the difference in size, this guy is a hundred years too early to fight me._'

"Nice one, Xion!" a familiar voice called. I turned to the voice and saw Nami, Usopp and Sanji in the audience.

I got off the field and met up with my crewmates, waiting for my next round and recovering. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked them. "Did you finish getting what you needed?"

"We sure did," Usopp answered. "Look at all these stuff I got! About half of them were weapons that were used by the previous Pirate King and his crew."

I sweatdropped at that info. 'Why do I have a feeling like he's been ripped off?' I asked myself.

"I won this fish in a cooking contest," Sanji boasted, showing the said fish. Man! The thing's huge!

"And Nami?" I asked, hoping that it wasn't anything stupid or crazy.

"We're the same size, right?" she asked me.

"I think so. Why?"

"I bought us some clothes. I know you didn't ask me to, but you don't have much clothing on you, I didn't have a choice. You need to change your style, anyway, from time to time."

Well, that is probably true. However, I still don't think that it's necessary for her to do that. "How much money did you spend for the clothes you bought for me?" I asked, willing to pay her back after the fight.

"Two hundred thousand belli, plus interest," she slyly answered, knowing that I would pay her back for them. I asked how much the interest was, which was the one thing that I regretted the most now. "The interest is 500 percent. So 1,000,000 belli. In other words the money that you're fighting to win!"

"I heard that you were evil, but that is a little over the top," I told her. "But I guess I'll have to do my best and get that money."

Nami smirked at what I just said. "You better. Or I'll have you pay me back twice the amount." Oh, sweet god! Anything but that! I will not let her take my money for something as stupid as this!

"OH! And there it is!" the announcer shouted, getting our attention. "Our champion's Greatsword Strike! A great K.O. to his opponent!"

Just as he said, that jerk from earlier took down his opponent with his sword. And a complete knock-out at that. However, I wasn't convinced at the power yet. In fact, I never believe if someone is as strong as they say without fighting them first. He may have won that fight, but he won't win the whole battle.

"And now we will be taking a quick five minute break," the announcer said.

I was taking the five minutes to train for a while, as usual. Not that I was scared of how strong my next opponent might be. It's just a habit of mine. Besides, I need to remember more attacks with this weapon.

"Xion, are you okay?" Usopp asked.

"You're training like crazy for a while now," Nami pointed out. "It's not good to train yourself that hard." Despite the fact that what she said was true, I kept training.

"If you're worried about losing, you mustn't worry," Sanji tried to convinced me. "If you're in a big pinch, I'll be there to rescue you."

"In case if you hadn't noticed yet," I spoke, taking a short break, "I can't have help. It's against the rules, Sanji. I know you guys are worried about me, but hey, don't forget, I'm the girl who took out a bunch of bandits and pirates before I met you guys, by myself."

When I mentioned that, they seemed to have calmed down a bit. But then, a laugh was heard.

"Hahaha! You beat up many pirates and bandits?!" the champion jerk repeated. "Hahahaha! Don't make me laugh! A girl like you can't do something like that! All girls are weak, like that shy girl you saved. I've been in this town longer than you have and I know how weak you girls are!"

That statement went too far now. I want to explode at his face and take him out now! But itf I do that, I'll be disqualified and I'll have to pay Nami 2 million belli! So I managed to keep my cool. Ah, if only I could say the same for a specific someone.

"YOU TAKE BACK WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT XION AND NAMI, DAMN IT!" Sanji demanded, kicking him hard in the face. Hopefully, a friend taking out a competitor doesn't mean that the one who is friend with the one that knocked him out gets disqualified.

"Why you! I ought to-!" Before the jerk could say anything, the announcer just announced the beginning of the second round.

"Well, gotta go!" I spoke up, running to the battlefield.

* * *

Some time later, I managed to get pass all the rounds and got to the final. All my opponents weren't so tough, except for the one in the semi-final. I could barely predict his moves with those ninja techniques. That's right, a ninja! Why is there a ninja in this town anyway? And in the Great Pirate Era at that.

Anyway, now I'm facing off against that champion. If he thinks that I'll let him win and bully everyone in this town whenever he wants, he should think again. I won't lose, no matter what!

"Ladies and gentlemen! Now is the moment we've all been waiting for!" Masaru announced. "The Final Round of the tournament! Are you all excited?! 'Cause I am!" Cheers were heard from the audience. "Now then, let me introduce to you, our finalists! On my right is none other that our champion, Alturo!" Some cheers and boos were heard when he announced that name. "As for my left is the newbee, who easily defeated all her opponents in coming this far into the finals, Xion!" For me, on the other hand, the audience were filled with cheers.

"These people really want me to win," I muttered to myself. "Guess I have to make this quick as well."

"I don't know what you're muttering about, but if it's for your prayers, then it's the best choice you've made," Alturo stated. "No one has ever beaten me before and were either dead or put into a coma! Saying your prayers is the best thing for someone like you to do."

"... That overconfidence of yours will dull your way of battling," I told him, confusing the guy. "You either overestimating your power or underestimating me. Either way, you won't be able to win like this." Was I provoking him, you might ask? Yes. Yes, I was provoking him. I want him to fight me with everything he got.

"Now I will show no mercy!" Alturo shouted, getting into his battle stance.

"Ah, yes. Before I forget, in this round, both fighters can fight at their full strength!" Masaru mentioned. "So fighters, GIVE IT YOUR ALL!"

'_This battle is over then,_' I thought, happy to hear the additional information about the final round.

"Now then, LET'S BATTLE!" At that, the referee blew the whistle and the fight began with me and Alturo charging at each other, giving blows after blows. Within each strike, tense wind filled the atmosphere, making the battle itself tense and more exciting for me. Hey, I love a good challenge.

"Oh! What is this?! Xion is easily blocking Alturo's attacks!" the announcer announced in shock. "What's going on here?! Is it possible that Alturo has finally met his match?! Or is he going easy on her?!"

"Heh. I compliment you for blocking those stirkes," Alturo said, backing away. "Now it's time for me to get serious!"

I kept my guard up, prepared for whatever he has in store for me. Since he went serious, I thought that it might be best for me to do the same. Though that depends on how strong he is at full power.

"Feel the power of my Devil's Fruit!" he announced, raising his sword. "Greatsword... SHOT GUN!" the moment he called that attack, his sword split into many pieces and were fired at me. Using my instincts, I dodged and blocked as many blades as I could. Only a few got through and cut my cheek and the back of my hand. "You did well to dodge those," Alturo complimented me, "but playtimes over!" He then raised his sword's hilt and the blades came back at me. I dodge rolled out of the way and those things were still following me!

"There it is!" the announcer yelled out. "It's Alturo's devil fruit power! The power of the Yaiba Yaiba no mi! For those who don't know the power of this fruit, it allows the user to control any swords and force it to do whatever they want them to do! Forcing them to break, forcing them to get back together, changing their shape, you name it! All of that is possible for Alturo!"

'_Thanks for the info,_' I thought, smirking. Why did I smirk? Because the fight got even more interesting.

"Got that right," Alturo agreed. "With this power, I am unbeatable! People will fear me! I will become king of the world! All will bow down before me! Becoming the champion of Loguetown is nothing but a beginning! Once I'm done with this tournament, I'll head over to the Grand Line on my own and become the next Pirate King! No one can stop me!"

All his boastfullness is somehow increasing the speed of those floating blades. I can barely dodge them now. Despite that, I couldn't just give up. I'm no quitter. Especially if people's lives and future are at stake! Also, as he spoke highly of himself, I can't help but see the darkness surrounding his body. Seeing this would mean only one thing: his heart completely fell in darkness. Knowing this, I knew that I had to stop him, before he covers the world in darkness!

'_Wait a minute,_' I thought, while dodging and blocking his sword's blades. '_How do I know about that? Are more of my memories coming back to me? It's good that I'm remembering more but, now is not the time! Although, I'm glad that the memory that is coming back to me is useful information. Because that would mean that I have to end this battle quickly!_'

"You won't escape," Alturo whispered. "Greatsword Cage." When he whispered that, the blades surrounded me and fused into a bar cage of some sort. I kept my guard up and prepared for the worst. As I heard Alturo whispered 'slasher', blades formed from and were shot out of the bar, attempting to cut me in two. As the blades were shot out, the cage got smaller. I couldn't believe the situation that I'm in.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Nami shouted from the audience.

"Hey you! You better get Xion-san out of there or else!" Sanji followed.

"Fight fair, you coward!" Usopp yelled.

"What is this?!" Masaru asked no one in particular. "There are some people in the audience who wants Alturo to stop his cage! Are they not scared of death?!"

Hearing that word 'death' made me think for a while. I didn't understand what he meant by that. That is, until I saw a glare from Alturo. That glare he had gave me the feeling like he _will _kill them. I felt uneasy with that look.

"Hey!" I called, getting his attention. "Where do you think you're looking?! Don't take your eyes off of your opponent!"

"Why?" he calmly asked. "When that opponent is going to die? Besides, I'm getting my revenge from your insolence this afternoon. I have no reason to keep my eyes on you." With that, he kept his eyes on my friends and raised his sword, extending the remains of the blade that were still on the guard.

I blocked each blades that were still shooting out of the bars, thinking of a plan to get out and stop him. '_What can I do?_' I thought. '_How can I get out of this cage? Come on, Xion. Think!_' That was when I started to remember me. opening a corridor of some sort out of thin air. That image disappeared, when I was almost cut by a blade. Not taking another thought about what I saw, I quickly concentrated on that dark corridor. There was enough room for me to open one, and I wasn't wasting even a second to try to open it.

I then saw a speck of light. That light grew bigger and wider, almost the size of a door. It was different from what I saw in my memory, but it was close enough to me. So I jumped in and ended up in a weird room. It was all blue and had nothing in it. It was then that I saw a corridor of light, similar to the one that I opened. I looked at the other side and saw Alturo and the others staring at the cage in amusement or horror.

'_Must've thought that I'm dead,_' I assumed. I got my Keyblade ready to attack that jerk as soon as I jump through the portal. Not wasting another second to let the audience hear that Alturo wins the whole tournament, I charged right through and slammed the guy in the head with the flat side of my weapon.

I heard gasps as I hit him. When I lowered my weapon, Alturo gave me an 'I'll-kill-you-for-that' glare.

"What is this?!" the announcer asked. "Xion appeared out of nowhere and seemed perfectly fine! Wasn't she in the cage a few seconds ago, all cut up by Alturo's power?! How did she manage to escape?!"

"How indeed," Alturo sarcastically asked. "You just got lucky. This time, you'll be in smitherines!"

Before I gave him the chance to do anything to me, I quickly whispered, "Confusion Strike," doing a spin attack on him. As he regained his balance, he stared at me with confusion written all over his face.

"What the hell?!" he asked. "How can you multiply?!" There was the effect that I was hoping for. He looked around in confusion and seem to have thought that I am now everywhere.

"What is this?!" Masaru asked. "Alturo is looking around like he's searching for his opponent! Did that attack that Xion used on him the cause of this?!"

'_You bet all your belli that it is,_' I thought, smirking at the opening that the 'champion' was giving me. I then got a good grip on my Keyblade and ended this fight with a charging attack, whispering 'Sliding Dash' as Alturo's body fell, leaving the whole audience speechless.

"... Un... UNBELIEVABLE!" the announcer shouted, as the audience cheered. "Xion managed to beat Alturo! Our champion of this tournament! With this defeat and victory, the Loguetown's Weapon Tournament is over, with Xion as our new champion!" The crowd cheered at that announcement. I was happy myself. Not because I won the money or have the title of being the new weaponist champion of this town, but because everyone in this town can finally relax for five years. Alturo lost his title for now. Hopefully he won't try to get it back.


	10. The Escape

After that tournament, winning the 1 million, and ending Alturo's winning streak, or so people should call it, the crew and I walked back to the ship to head out to the Grand Line. As we walked, Nami was happy to get the belli that I won, Sanji was going all 'I-love-you-so-much-Xion-swan' for minutes, and Usopp was boasting about how he trained me to be like this, which is an absolute lie. While we were walking, we met up with Zoro.

"Hey. You seen Luffy?" he asked.

"Isn't he at the execution stand?" Nami asked.

"I know, but I can't find it."

"It's over there," I said, pointing the said stand. "And isn't that our captain at the top of that platform?"

Looking at the direction where I was pointing, the four shipmates yelled, "Why the hell is he on the stand?!"

Without anything needed to be said, Zoro and Sanji ran to the execution stand while Nami, Usopp and I ran to the ship. Hey, someone has to look after them from the Marines or other pirates.

"There's going to be a huge storm!" Nami told us. "And it's not any normal storm that we're having!"

"You can tell?!" I asked.

"Nami's skills are unlike the ones that you normally see," Usopp told me, dragging a huge fish. "I heard from Zoro that she can predict the weather."

"Seriously?!"

"Less talking, more running!" Nami told us.

* * *

"The Going Merry is in great danger!" Nami said. It suddenly started to rain a few seconds ago. And in such a short time, it's raining heavily. "The Marines might've already found it!"

"That might not be possible," I told her, putting on my hood. "Sure someone might've found the ship by now. However, I highly doubt that they'll do anything to our ship in this weather!"

"Either way, we have to hurry! Who knows what would happen to Merry! We can't waste a single second!"

"G-girls. Can you please help me with this fish?" Usopp asked, panting as he continued to drag that fish.

"Of course not!" we both answered. Hey, I may be strong, but even I have my limits in carrying things.

"I didn't think so."

When we got to the Going Merry, Nami, Usopp and I saw a man with a hairstyle that's similar to rabbit ears and huge lion. And by the looks of it, they were planning on setting Merry on fire.

"What do you guys think you're doing?!" Usopp asked.

"Mohji!" Nami identified the man with rabbit-ears hairstyle.

"Heh. Looks like something tasty just arrived," he muttered to the lion. "Get them, Richie!" At that command, the lion charged at us.

I planned on summoning Lapin to stop it, but Usopp beat me to it by firing an egg at the beast. Unfortunately for us, the egg didn't hit its mark. Now that I think about it, what can the egg do to help us?

"You idiot," Nami muttered.

"How did you miss?" I asked.

"Damn it! The rain made me slip!" he explained.

Fortunately for us, the lion came into a stop and licked the egg yolk and egg white. 'Talk about a lucky break,' I thought. "We should hurry to the ship while we have the chance!" I told my shipmates.

"Right," they answered, running towards the ship with me. However, we were cut short by that Mohji guy.

"Wait! As Vice-Captain of the Buggy Pirate Gang, I, Mohji-sama, won't let you set one foot on this ship!" he said. As he finished that sentence, there was a gun shot.

Usopp, Nami and I turned back to see who fired the gun, only to see a group of Marines to come after us.

"Firing squad, positions!" the Marine in the center commanded, whom I assumed to be the leader of that group. They all got into their positions and fired their weapons. Luckily for us three, they all aimed for Mohji, who managed to not get hit. "Deliver a message to the cannon brigade. Seize that ship!"

"Sir!" the Marine that was ordered saluted.

"N-nami! Xion!" Usopp called.

"We know!" I repled, as we continued to run to our ship. As soon as we ran, the Marines began to fire their guns. Us running and trying not to get shot at made me wish I had a sheild. Then again, it would only protect me.

When we jumped onto the ship, the Marines swapped from guns to cannons. In simpler terms, they fired cannons at the ship!

"At this rate, they'll sink the Going Merry!" Nami said.

"What can we do?!" I asked our navigator.

"We have to set sail! Otherwise, this ship will sink!"

"I don't like the idea, but I guess we got no other choice," Usopp agreed, as we set sail. "Hang on! What about Luffy and the others?!"

"We can pick them up somehow!" Nami told him.

"Ally at twelve o'clock!" I informed them, spotting a certain chef.

"Nami-san! Xion-san!" Sanji called, in his womanizer mode.

"Sanji-kun/Sanji!" they called.

"I'm baaaack!"

"Where are Luffy and Zoro?!" I asked him.

"Those two louts can take care of themselves," he replied, changing back. If anyone asked me, I'd say that those two got themselves in trouble with the Marines.

"Sanji! Behind you!" I warned him, seeing some Marines with swords going after him, only to get kicked by our cook. As they were knocked out, though, more kept coming. "There's too many of them for Sanji to handle!"

"I'll cover him! Bring the ship in!" Usopp told us.

"You crazy?! The tide's already too strong! It's impossible to get back to shore!" Nami reasoned.

Unfortunately, Usopp ignored her and jumped off the Merry. I summoned Lapin, to have it give them some back up as well. "Assisst them, Lapin," I told the rabbit, who jumped off the boat and landed on Usopp's head. Thankfully, Lapin doesn't weigh much, or Usopp would've drowned. The two of them helped Sanji by either firing Japanese pinballs or fireballs.

Suddenly, there was a huge gust of wind. It would've blown me and Nami off the ship if we didn't hang onto the railing. When I saw Lapin being blown away be that wind, I quickly returned her back into her card. Yes, Lapin's a girl. Anyway, when the wind died down, I saw Luffy and Zoro running towards us. It seems that Nami did as well.

"Luffy!" the navigator called.

"Luffy!" I called after.

The next thing you know, he, Zoro, Usopp and Sanji fired themselves towards us! Or, to be more accurate, Luffy fired all four of them towards the ship. I swear, seeing him doing something this insane made me wonder if I chose the right guy to follow.

"Are you guys all right?" I asked, sweatdropping a little. I heard some groans, so I assumed that they're all okay.

After a few minutes of sailing, the crew and I spotted a lighthouse that shows a blue light.

"Look at that light!" Nami told us. "That's our guiding light. It points to the entrance of the Grand Line."

"The Grand Line os over there?" Luffy asked.

"What now, captain?" I asked. "Can we sail there in this storm?" I got a short giggle from my captain, which obviously tells me that we're going there in this storm.

"Well then, let's have a small launching ceremony to mark the importance of our voyage," Sanji suggested, bringing a big barrel to the center of the ship.

"I second that."

"Yeah."

"Let's do it!"

"To find All Blue."

"To become the Pirate King."

"To become the greatest swordsman."

"To draw the map of the whole world."

"T-t-to become the brave warrior of the sea."

"To regain my memories and find all the Dream Eaters."

We all said our goals and placed a foot on top of the barrel as we did.

"All right, everyone. Onwards to the Grand Line!" Luffy shouted.

We all agreed on that, as we raised our foot into the air. It won't be long now until we reach the Grand Line. And it won't be long, until I regain the rest of my memories.


	11. Meeting Apis

It's been a day since the crew and I left Loguetown. The storm ended and right now, we're sailing to the entrance of the Grand Line. At least, that's what I think. Currently, I'm doing a little target practice with Lapin. We might sail across some enemies on our way to the entrance, so I have to be prepared for anything. I wish Icould say the same for the rest of the crew.

Luffy's on the ship's figurehead, which he considered it to be his special seat. Zoro's doing nothing but napping, which I find it to be surprising since he was aiming to be the world's greatest swordsman. I assumed that he would be training like crazy, but I guess not everything's what it seems to be. Nami was looking at a map that shows us how to get to the Grand Line. Usopp was in the crow's nest, looking out for trouble and other things that we might come across. As for Sanji, he was on deck, enjoying the weather.

"Nami! Are we there yet?" Luffy called. Obviously, he can't wait to get to the world's dangerous ocean.

"We left Loguetown a few days ago," our navigator told him. "It'll take us a few more days to get the Grandnd Line. Just be more patient."

"Okay," our captain replied happily. He then turned his head towards me and Lapin, as we finished our training. "Hey Xion! Let me fight that rabbit!" he ordered me.

"Can't," I said, walking up to the rest of the crew. "Lapin is worn out from training. And even if she isn't tired, what if you two wreck Merry? We're in the middle of the ocean, remember?"

Hearing my reasonable answer, Luffy pouted, which strangely seems cute. Don't ask how.

"Hey! I see a flock of birds off to starboard!" Usopp informed.

"Birds?" the captain repeated.

"Yeah! And in the water, I can sort of make out a pretty big... I can't really see it with those birds. What do you think?"

"If there are a flock of birds over there, then there must be a lot of fish there as well," I assumed.

"Really?!" Captain Luffy asked me.

"I heard that there's a school of fish if there are a flock of birds," Sanji supported. "Catch us some lunch, Luffy."

Agreeing with the idea, Luffy stretched his arm all the way to where the flocks are. "Gomu Gomu no Amidori(Net-Catch)!"

"Whoo! Nice stretching!" Usopp complimented.

"What a handy guy," Sanji muttered.

As Luffy caught a fish and pulled his arm back, I made out a human figure instead. As his arm stretched back, Sanji and I realized one little thing. If Luffy stretched his arm back, IT WOULD ALSO HIT US IN THE PROCESS! Realizing that, he and I ducked to avoid not getting hit. I wish I could say the same for our sleeping swordsman, for he got hit by Luffy's arm and was knocked off the ship.

"Oh, sorry Zoro," Luffy muttered, in a 'I-don't-care' tone.

"YOU DAMN MORON!" Sanji yelled, getting back on his feet.

"WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOUR ARM HITS US AND WE'RE DEVIL FRUIT USERS?!" I asked our stupid captain. As we scolded our captain for being an air-head, Nami and Usopp both pulled Zoro up.

After pulling him up, we all gathered to the fish Luffy caught, which is actually a girl.

"This isn't a fish," our cook observed.

"It's a little girl," Nami identified.

"What's she doing out here in the ocean?" I asked.

"You sure it's not a mermaid?" our stupid captain asked.

"How does she look like a mermaid?" Usopp asked back.

"Like Xion said, though, what's a little girl doing out here in a rowboat?" Nami repeated my question.

* * *

Some time later, we carried the girl in the kitchen on the galley to let her rest peacefully. While she's resting, Sanji was making some luch for us and something warm for the little girl when she wakes up. As he was making the food, the girl suddenly woke up and accidentally headbutted Usopp's chin, who was watching over her with me.

"ITAAAI!" she screamed, holding her head.

"So you're awake," Nami said. "And more lively than I thought. Are you hurt?"

"I bet that you're hungry," Sanji said. "I'm making some soup right now."

The little one seemed to be observing her surroundings and grinned.

"Were you shipwrecked?" I asked. "There was a storm a couple of days ago. I'm surprised that you survived. Well, all that matters is that you're alive. What's your name? My name is Xion. The guy that's cooking is Sanji. The girl with orange hair is Nami. The guy wearing the wristband is Zoro. The one you headbutted is Usopp. And-"

"I'm Luffy," the said man interrupted. "I'm captain of this pirate ship."

As soon as she heard the word 'pirate', the girl freaked out. "PIRATES?!"

"We're heading to the Grand Line!" he told her.

There was an awkward silence as she just sat there with her mouth wide open.

"What are we going to do to the kid?" Zoro asked, breaking the silence.

"Now that you mentioned it... what should we do?" Luffy asked. "I'll think about it tomorrow."

* * *

That night, I became extremely worried about the kid. She didn't eat lunch and she stayed in the kitchen, refusing to talk to any of us. I walked in to see how she was doing, only to see her hiding under the blanket, panicking. now that I think about it, any one would be scared of pirates. And I bet that was the reason for her refusal. I then heard a stomach growl and assumed that it was her's. Smiling a bit, I summoned Lapin and have it get something out of the freezer. It didn't take me long enough to make a meal out of what she took out.

"Here you go. You have to be really hungry by now," I said, handing her her meal. "Don't worry, I didn't put in anything weird." Observing the food carefully, the girl took a bite out of the food I made and started to devour the whole thing. While she was eating, a loud shriek came from behind me, nearly having the kid to choke on her food. I handed her a glass of water and turned to see Luffy caught in a huge rat-trap. The lights were then turned on and Sanji was scolding Luffy for trying to steal something to eat.

"Luffy. How many times do I have to tell you? Can't you listen for once?" he then looked to the side to see the girl eating. "How did you get past those traps?"

"It wasn't us," I told him. "I had Lapin get something. Dream Eaters have better senses than humans does. Ergo, she knows where the triggers for the traps are and avoided them." Buying that excuse, Sanji just wipped up some food for our hopeless captain.

After the girl finished eating the meal I made, she stared at the meal that Sanji made. The sight and smell of it made her stomach growl.

"Do you want more?" I asked her, noticing her stare. "You do realize that there are some portions for you as well, right? If you stay here, Luffy's going to eat it all."

Hearing those words, the girl perked up. Before Luffy could get her soup, she jumped to the table and drank it before he could. "IT's delicious!" she complimented. "It's the first time I had anything this good!"

"So she's finally come around?" Nami asked from the door with Usopp and Zoro.

"Luffy. You're eating again?" Usopp asked.

"I didn't have enough for lunch," the straw hat boy told the sniper.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him. "You had two pots full."

"Really?" he asked with an innocent face.

"You freaked out when you heard that we're pirates, didn't you?" Nami asked the shy girl. "Well, that's a normal reaction these days."

"... You won't sell me off, will you?" she asked.

"You thought we would?" Usopp asked back.

"Everyone does seem pretty scary here," Zoro joked.

"With this face, you're one to talk." With that insult caused by Usopp, he and Zoro got into a small rumble.

"Not Xion," the kid spoke up. "She has this 'big sister' kind of feeling, so I wasn't scared of her."

I chuckled a bit at that statement, since I took care of a little girl for six months before joining this crew. "Anyway, you want some more? Our chef made enough for everyone here, right Sanji?"

"Yes~ Xion-swan~" he replied, in his loverboy mode.

With that reply, the kid asked for more, followed by Luffy, whose request was rejected by our lover cook.

* * *

The next day, the guys and I woke up early to get ready to set sail. I don't know if we're going to continue to sail to the Grand Line or bring the kid to her home island, wherever it is. While we were preparing to set sail, something exploded in the kitchen and out the door is the girl, who's covered in soot and dizzy.

"Hey. What the heck's going on down there?" Sanji asked from the crows nest.

"I made breakfast," she replied. "Everyone, breakfast is served."

At the sound of food, Luffy happily marched himself into the kitchen with the rest of us following him. I had a bad feeling in my gut that we're being served something bad. And, boy, was I right. For breakfast, we're having something burnt and smell funny. Don't ask how.

"Ehehe... You made this by yourself?" Nami asked with a nervous smile, in which the girl nodded to.

"It's got... quite an appearance," I said, trying not to hurt her feelings.

"On top of saving me, you're even feeding me. So from now on, I'm doing anything I can do to help," she reasoned.

"That's nice of you, but it's not really necessary," I said.

"And this stuff doesn't look edible," Zoro added. That statement made me and Nami mad, we shoved his portion down his throat.

"But is it really good?" Usopp asked.

"What are you talking about? It's great," Luffy said, making the little one happy.

"There's proof. I'm sure it only looks bad," Sanji supported, as he and Nami took a bite. Well, they do say looks can be decieving, so I took a bite after them.

"You sure?" Usopp asked again, taking a bite from his portion. That was a big mistake for all of us to trust Luffy, for the food was SO... DAMN... SPICY! That said, we chunked water down our throats.

"Is it really that bad?" the girl asked, taking a bite out of Luffy's portion. Her reaction to the taste was the same as ours. "TOO SPICY! What happened?! Did I use too much seasoning?!"

"Well, mistakes happen. Just try not to make the same mistakes in the future, okay?" Sanji told her, cheering her up. "Hey. This girl put her heart and soul into making this food, don't you dare leave a crumb." Usopp and Zoro gave our chef a 'are-you-kidding-me' face. "Don't look at me like that. You'll hurt her feelings. This girl... Now that I think about it, what's your name?"

"Apis. My name's Apis," she introduced herself.

"Apis-chan's life is at stake here. I'll beat the hell out of anyone who leaves a scrap of food. Of course, I'll make something for you two, Nami-san, Xion-san." Nami thanked him for that. As for me, well I never had any appetite to begin with. In fact I have no appetite at all, for some reason. So I gave the rest of my food to Luffy and left the kitchen, after telling Sanji that he didn't need to make anything for me.

As I walk out, I hoped that Apis didn't take my leave the wrong way, which I bet was what she is doing.

* * *

_***GENERAL P.O.V***_

As Xion walked out the door, Apis looked down at the floor. "The food ruined her appetite, didn't it?" she asked.

"It's not that," Nami said. "For what we know, it's been like this ever since she joined this crew."

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you notice the amount of food Xion ate when you got here?" Usopp asked. "For some reason, that girl has very little appetite. None of us knew why."

"Really?" Apis asked.

"I bet there was something in the food that Ero-cook put in that she didn't like," Zoro joked.

"What was that, stupid Marimo?" the said chef asked.

"Well, as long as she's alive and okay with it, it's all right and normal," Luffy said, eating Xion's portion.

"Having very little appetite is not normal, Luffy," Usopp corrected his captain.

"Really?"

* * *

_***XION'S** **P.O.V***_

I was in the middle of the deck, training with Starlight, my Keyblade, for quite some time now, as usual. As I was going for a slide attack, I suddenly heard a voice.

'_**Help** **me...**_' it said. '_**Someone... Please help...**_'

"Who are you?" I asked, looking around. "Where are you?"

'_**Please... To Gunkan** **Island...**_' the voice then faded away when it gave me a location.

It was almost like the time when I first met Lapin back on Tanoshi Island. A voice came out of nowhere while I was training, telling me to go to deep into the woods. When I got to the center, there was a Keyhole on the ground in the center. The voice then told me to unlock it and my Starlight suddenly appeared in my hand. Out of instinct, I aimed it at the Keyhole and a beam of light was shot out of it. The Keyhole then disappeared and revealed a floor door. I cautiously walked down and that was when I found the Dream Eater Manual and book of ingredients, as well as the ingredients to make Lapin.

I was sure that another Dream Eater was calling me for help right now. I wanted to ask the others if we could set sail for Gunkan Island, but I don't know where it is. Not only that, what if they ask me why? I can't tell them that a Dream Eater was calling me from that island, can I? They'll think that I'm crazy. Though this is for that Dream Eater that's calling for help. I can't turn my back on it. That said, I ran to the door and was about to slam the door open when I heard Apis's vioce.

"Really?! You'll take me back to Gunkan Island?!"

'_Back to Gunkan Island?_' I mentally repeated. '_Then, Apis lives in that island? And by the sound of it, Luffy seem to have agreed to take her back before going to the Grand Line.__'_

"Yay! Thank you Luffy! Yay! Yay! I'm so happy!" Hearing those cheers from that girl makes me feel happy. Besides the fact that I'm going to the island where the Dream Eater is, we're also bringing the kid back home. If there's one thing that makes me really happy, it's seeing kids happy. "In return, I'll make breakfast for you until we get there!" Apis added, ruining my happiness, but just by a little.

'_I'm glad that my appetite is weaker than a normal human,_' I thought in relief. I then walked in after hearing everything, getting looks from my crew and Apis.

"Hey, Xion!" Luffy called. "We're going to bring Apis back home before going to the Grand Line. We're close to her home land, so it's going to be a quick drop-off. You good with that?"

"I'd be lying if I said 'I'd rather get my memories back instead of helping a kid', so I'm okay with it, captain," I said.

"Thank you, Xion!" Apis thanked.

* * *

Some time later, as we sail to Gunkan Island, we were all doing whatever. Luffy was on his seat, Sanji was inside making some snacks, Zoro was napping, Usopp was in the crow's nest, and Nami was observing the weather. As for me, I was training while Apis was playing with Lapin. While we were doing our thing, Usopp called us from the crow's nest, saying that there are some Marine Ships off the aft bow.

"The Marines?!" Nami repeated.

"He's not kidding!" I told her, looking from behind the ship. "And he's not joking when he said some, either!"

Nami went to the railing and looked at the back as well. "You're right. But why is a fleet that size here?"

Luffy and the others came and looked at the direction that we're seeing. I heard Apis gasped a little when she saw those ships.

"I bet they're here for my head!" Luffy boasted.

"Even so, why would they bring that many?!" I asked.

"They know how strong I am! I am too strong!"

"You're too careless!" Nami and I yelled.

"Those are the ships from the eighth division," Apis said. "They're the Marines that I ran away from!" With that information, Luffy, the others and I all thought the same thing about this situation. Suddenly, we heard cannon shots.

"They're shooting cannonballs at us!" Usopp screamed, climbing down from the nest. Luckily, they all missed us.

"You there! Pirates!" a deep, male voice called from one of the ships. "Stop you ship this instance! That was a warning shot. The next shot won't miss!"

"Like we're going to stop," I said, summoning my Keyblade. "Lapin!" The called Dream Eater came to my side and was ready to fight.

"Now what, Luffy?" Zoro asked. "If we're going to fight, let's do it now."

"Okay. Let's fight," he quickly replied.

"Hold it, hold it!" Usopp yelled, swiftly coming near us. He then protested about the idea that's given by our captain. I admit, we are at a disadvantage, but that doesn't mean that we're weak. They just have too many people on their side. In case if he forgot, I fought at least hundreds of pirates and bandits before joining this crew. Judging by his reaction, though, he completely forgot about that fact.

"A wind is coming," Apis spoke. "A big wind."

"Zoro, face the sails toward the south," Nami ordered. "Usopp, Sanji, turn us hard to starboard. Hurry!"

"What's wrong?" Luffy asked.

"A squall is coming," our navigator told him. "We're riding it to get away from them. There's no way we can beat them like this." Catching up to what she meant, I returned Lapin back into her card before she gets blown away by the upcoming wind.

As if on cue, the wind came and Merry rode it towards south. I quickly pocketed Lapin's card before it gets blown out of my hand due to the speed. Speaking of which, as we were sailing hard towards south, I can't help but forget something.

'_South... South... South... Wait a second! We're in the East Blue. On a map, it's on the top right side of the world, north of Grand Line,_' I thought. '_If we were to go south, and due to how close we are to the Grand Line, we should be there then. But why do I feel like there's something else that we're going to end up in?_'

While I was thinking that, Usopp, Luffy, Sanji and Apis were cheering about how they lost the Marines. I then seemed to notice how calm it has become. What's even more abnormal is the fact that the sails aren't being carried by the wind, literally! I was not the only one who realizes this, Zoro found it strange as well. Analyzing the ship's condition, my eyes widen in fear as I just remembered the second fearsome sea that surrounds Grand Line.

"What's wrong you two?" Nami asked. "You had those serious looks for a while now. Well, for Xion, your's looks like you've seen a ghost."

"It's just, something's weird here," Zoro answered. "It feels like... this ship hasn't moved at all."

Confused at what he said, Nami looked around to see that our ship is indeed NOT MOVING! "Now that you mentioned it, there isn't any wind in the sails at all," she said.

"Nami, do you by any chance, know one ocean that seperates the Grand Line from the other Blues?" I asked, hoping that she knows what I'm talking about. After a few seconds of silence, Nami screamed.

"What's wrong, Nami?" Luffy asked.

"Nami-san? Xion-san too?" Sanji asked with more concern than Luffy.

"Oh no..." Nami spoke.

"WE'VE ENTERED THE CALM BELT!" she and I shrieked.

* * *

**A/N: Before I continue on with the next chapter, I would like to ask the readers if they would please PM me or give me a review on which Dream Eater should reside in Gunkan Island as well as being the next Dream Eater to join Xion's team of Dream Eaters. I know that some of you guys already gave me your ideas, but that's as a starter and I need more thoughts and ideas. Last day of ideas would be on June 8th. Until next time, readers. XD**


	12. Gunkan Island and Challenge

**A/N: Before I start this chapter, you're all probably thinking 'didn't you give us until June 8th, so why are you starting this chapter early?' It's true I gave you until June 8th, however, that doesn't really mean that the next chapter is going to start on that day. In other words, the appearance of the next Dream Eater will be on the chapter aafter this one. So don't get all nasty with me or jump to conclusions, thank you. That said, please enjoy.**

* * *

Out of all places that we have to end up in after escaping from the Marines, why did it have to be in the Calm Belt? This is an extremely dangerous place to be. And I don't mean because we're in a sail boat due to the lack of wind and ocean currents.

Some time after we ended up here, Luffy and the others asked me and Nami why we have to hurry on out of the part of the ocean that we're in. We gave them a brief explanation on where we are and why it's dangerous. After they understood the first reason on why it's dangerous for us to be here in a boat that relies on wind and ocean currents, Luffy thought that we meant every once in a while, which I wish was how it goes here! However, when he said that, Nami and I were going to explain another reason why this place is dangerous. Before we could, the ship was shaking, like we're in an earthquake or something. After that, a lot of sea creatures, known as Sea Kings, came out from underwater! Not only that, THEY'RE HUGE!

"What are we going to do?" Sanji asked.

"F-for now, nobody move," Zoro suggested. "Once they all go back underwater, we row like crazy!"

"I second that," I agreed.

"YOU'RE KIDDING ME!" Usopp yelled. And why would he yell in this kind of situation? Out of fear?!

Soon after he yelled and Nami clamped his mouth shut, a yellow Sea King that looks like a huge frog leaped up, attempting to get us! The Sea King that we're on jerked his head back a little, causing Apis to fall overboard. Not only that, she was almost eaten by that frog! Luckily, Luffy stretched his arm to get and save her.

"His arm stretched!" she screamed. "Luffy! You ate a devil's fruit, didn't you?!"

"Yeah," he calmly answered.

"Luffy! Stretched your arm down again!" she told him, after a second of silence.

Oy, Luffy. He HAD to do what he was asked! The guy actually stretched his arm down, with Apis still in his hand! If I could, I would've give him some beating or have him feel the wrath of my Keyblade!

"Hey, Luffy!" Usopp called.

"What are you doing?!" Nami asked.

"I don't know," he replied.

"Oh, sure, you don't!" I shouted.

When he pulled his arm back, we saw Apis holding... a nose hair?

"What did she do?" Zoro asked.

"Did she just...?" I spoke in disgust.

"Pulled out a nose hair," Luffy said, in a calm tone.

"Wait a second," the sniper breathed.

"If you do that..." our navigator spoke.

"The thing will sneeze!" our chef finished for her.

As Apis got back to the ship, she let go of the nose hair, which thankfully didn't get on Merry.

"That's a HUGE nose hair!" our simple-minded captain stated. In a carefree tone, he then said, "Here we go!" as the Sea King sneezed, sending our ship to go flying, literally. As for the rest of us, WE WERE OFF THE SHIP!

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CAREFREE?!" we all asked, amazed by his actions.

"AWESOME! It feels like we're flying!"

"We really are flying!" Usopp yelled, as we flew to Merry, thankfully, and got out of the Sea King group. That said, we're back where we were before we got ourselves in the Calm Belt.

"Looks like we're back to where we were before," Nami observed.

"Yeah. And there are no Marines, now," Sanji added.

"I thought we were going to die," Usopp breathed.

"Well, now that that's over, let's head over to Gunkan Island," I said. '_Just wait a little longer,_' I thought, hoping that the Dream Eater that was calling for help would hear me.

'_**Please... Hurry...**_' it pleaded.

"Just wait a little longer. I'll be there soon," I thought out loud.

"Who are you talking to?" Nami asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing really. Just thinking out loud."

* * *

A few hours later, we somehow ended up in a fog while sailing to our destination. It was really hard to see here, we might get lost here.

"Can't see a darn thing," Sanji complained.

"You can see the fog," Luffy protested, grinning.

"That's not what he meant," I told the straw hat captain.

"Apis, are you sure Gunkan Island is somewhere around here?" our chef asked.

"Dunno," Apis replied.

"How can you say 'dunno'?" Usopp asked.

"It should be somewhere around here," Nami stated.

"As expected of Nami-san." Oh, dear. Please don't say Sanji's going to womanizer mode.

'_**... My card...**_' That voice again? '_**Use my card... It'll guide you...**_'

Taking its advice, I took out the deck of Dream Eater cards from my pocket, with Lapin's card at the front. I skimmed through all the blank ones and saw one card faintly glowing. I drew that card out and pointed it towards the figure head, only to have it glow brighter. When I pointed it to the tangerine grove, it was faintly glowing again.

'_The brighter it glows, the closer we are to Gunkan Island, huh,_' I thought. "We're going the right way," I informed my crew, getting confused looks from them. "We haven't changed out route, have we? And I doubt that islands can move."

"I guess so," Apis said, looking at the ship's front. When something caught her eyes, she pointed and said, "There!"

We all look at the direction that she was pointing at and saw a big ship. Or so it seems.

"Wow! A ship! IT'S HUGE!" a certain someone happily cried out.

"Come on now..." Sanji muttered.

"Is there anything you won't call huge?" Zoro asked.

"So, should I say it's super duper huge?"

"NO!" Nami yelled at him.

"Forget it guys. Our words won't reach his brain," I told the crew.

"That's Gunkan Island," Apis told us. "It looks like a battleship, so it's called Gunkan Island."

"Oh, cool."

As we approached the island, many villagers were at the port, all armed with weapons.

"Yo! I'm back!" Apis waved. The villagers seemed surprised that she's on our ship. Who could blame them? We're pirates after all.

When we all got off the ship, Luffy started to ask them a question. "Hey, you there." The atmosphere got tense when he said those words. I wondered what he wanted to ask that was so important. "Is there a yakiniku (smoked meat) store on this island?"

'_That's what's important right now?!_' I mentally asked. '_Is there no limit to his stomach?!_'

"Wh-who are these guys?" a villager asked.

"Well you see, even though they're pirates, they're good pirates," Apis explained to them.

"Is there even such a thing as good pirates?" another villager asked.

"Also, weren't you taken by the Marines?" another asked.

"Yes. But I ran away. And then Luffy and his crew saved me, right?"

"Yup!" Luffy agreed.

"Apis, what have you done?!" "I don't know why, but the Marines were looking for you." "You shouldn't go back home. They're still around here."

"Oh no... What should I do?" the girl asked.

"We really wish we could help you, but... Those guys are pirates!"

"Ah, what a fix..."

"But she said we're good pirates," Usopp muttered.

"Apis!" an old voice called out. "Come here this instant." We see an old man walking with a cane in his hand and his hand behind his back.

"Who's that?" Nami asked.

"I don't know," I replied.

It was then, Apis started to run to that old man. "Grandpa Bokuden!" she cried out, running into his arms.

"Apis, I'm glad you're safe," the old man, now known as Bokuden, said in relief. He then looked towards us and said, "I thank you for saving this girl. How about it? I'd like to give you a warm welcome at my house."

"Is your house... a yakiniku store?" the mindless captain asked.

"It's not a yakiniku store... but Grandpa Bokuden makes the best butaman (pork filled bun) on the island!" Apis told us.

"Yes! Let's go!"

"Okay."

"Sure, let's go."

* * *

_***GENERAL P.O.V***_

Else where in East Blue, but not far from the Straw Hat Pirates, a ship filled with Marines gathered in a room where a big, fat guy was sitting in a throne-like chair, eating meat.

"Erik!" he called.

"I am humbly at your service, sir," a guy with a weird hair style and sunglasses, known a Erik, walked up.

"That girl was trapped in the Calm Belt. She shouldn't have been able to return alive."

"Impossible. That little girl?"

"Now you..." He choked on some meat in his throat and coughed it out on Erik's face. "Now you are going back to Gunkan Island! Recapture her at any cost!"

"They made it through Calm Belt?" Erik whispered.

"My, my. Isn't this troublesome?" a voice from behind them asked. It came from a mysterious man in a black coat, similar to the one Xion is wearing. "Is it alright if I come with?"

"Oh! I almost forgot about you," the fat man said, taking a bite out of his meat. "Very well then. I'll have you go with him. In case if those pirates try to interfere with the capture again."

"I thank you, sir. With me on this mission, our chance of recapturing the girl is one hundred percent."

"I believe that when I see the outcome."

"Shall we go, then, partner?" the man in a black coat asked.

"Shut up," Erik growled.

* * *

_***XION'S P.O.V***_

We were all in Apis's house, watching Bokuden ready the butaman. Truthfully, I didn't want to be here. It wasn't because I'm not comfortable being with someone old or that I want to regain my memories as fast as possible. It's that Dream Eater. I can't waste my time being here. Who knows what's happening to it right now? Even though it's just a recipe on making it, I have to get to it to give it life. If something were to happen to the recipe, the Dream Eater would never come to life again.

Everyone was looking forward to having it. But they were all shot down when they heard the old man said that it'll take four to five hours to get ready.

"I'm hungry~" Luffy complained.

"Bokuden-san, do you know why Apis was kidnapped by the Marines?" I asked the old man.

"Apis, do you have any idea?" he asked his grandaughter.

"No idea," she replied.

"But you told us there was a reason and you couldn't tell us what it is," Nami reminded.

"That was a lie."

"There is one," the old man spoke up.

"She just said there wasn't!" Usopp said, standing up.

"There really isn't much on this island, but if there's something it does have, it's our... ancient legend."

"Legend?" Zoro repeated.

"About what?" I asked.

"The people on this island are known as descendants of the Lost Island that sank thousands of years ago at the peak of this prosperity," he explained. I noticed that Apis had a bored look on her face. Made me wonder that she heard this story a lot of times. "Lost Island was home to the dragons known as Sennenryuu. The bones of those dragons are known as Ryuukotsu and are believed to be an elixir that grants eternal youth."

"Interesting," Sanji said, smoking. "But that legend is no reason for the Marines to get involved."

"Yeah. Where do the Marines fit in?" Usopp asked.

"That's something I don't get either," Nami agreed.

"Shouldn't there be some sort of hint in the legend?" Zoro asked.

"To begin, Lost Island's first king was Iskandaq." As soon as he began to explain, Apis had an irritated look on her face. She then tried to sneak away. She noticed that Luffy and I were watching her make her leave, so she told us to keep quiet. Having a bad feeling about this, I also decided to take my leave.

"Where you going?" Zoro asked.

"Just going out for a walk," I told him. "I'm not into long stories." With that I left with Apis.

When we got outside, I asked her, "Why are you sneaking out?"

"Whenever Grandpa starts that story, he just keeps on going," she told me.

"Keeps on going?" I repeated. "You don't mean..."

"Yeah. He has good memory when it comes to that story or other stories related to our people."

"... How much does your father know?" I asked, wondering if he even knows how the Age of Pirates started, which would be impossible, probably.

"I'm not so sure," she told me. "Anyway, I got some place to be."

"Yeah, me too. Later," I waved, as we went our ways.

* * *

When I was out of the village, making sure that no one was following me, I took out the Dream Eater's card. It's not glowing anymore, but I was sure that it's somewhere on the island. Question is, where on the island.

'_If only there was a hint of some sort,_' I thought.

'_**The**** mountain...**_' the said creature spoke in my head. '**_I'm somewhere in the mountain... Please... Help me..._**' With those words, I scanned my surroundings to find a mountain and ran towards it.

When I got there, the card was glowing again. Seeing this made me think that I'm on the right track. Before I tried to climb the mountain, I noticed a cave, which made me wonder if I should climb or enter the cave. It hit me again when I remember that Dream Eaters have the ability to sense others. I wasn't sure if that was true, but I summoned Lapin and tried to see if it was true.

"Lapin, there's a Dream Eater recipe somewhere on this mountain. Problem is I don't know where it is. Think you can help me?" I asked. Understanding the situation, the rabbit-like creature nodded its head in agreement. "Thanks, girl. And we better make this quick. The sun's starting to set. If I'm not back nefore it sets completely, my crew would find me suspicious." That said, Lapin scanned the area and went into the cave, with me following her.

* * *

_***GENERAL P.O.V***_

Back in Bokuden's house, he was still telling the whole crew about the legend. Luffy and Zoro fell asleep, Sanji, Nami and Usopp stayed awake to listen. None of them, the ones who are awake that is, realized that Xion isn't with them.

* * *

_***XION'S P.O.V***_

I was walking in this cave with Lapin guiding me for quite a while now. Of what I've seen about her kind's sences, they _are_ better than humans. I was amazed that she knew where secret passages were whenever we meet a dead end. There were even a few traps set up in here, which we managed to get pass.

We hit another dead end. Lapin was scanning the whole room for another secret passage. It found, or sensed, something, but it wasn't a secret passage. When I knock on the wall that Lapin was pointing to and a different wall, I noticed the difference in sound. That said, I summoned my Keyblade and hit the wall that Lapin pointed out as hard as I could a few times, destroying it and discovering a weird room. It's similar to the room that I found Lapin in, which gave me the idea that the Dream Eater recipe is close.

'_It won't be long now,_' I thought. '_I'm almost there, Dream Eater._'

Walking to the center of the room, I saw a Keyhole. I summoned Starlight and pointed it at the hole, shoting out a small beam of light. The next thing you know, I heard a voice. It's not the Dream Eater's. It was the voice from my dreams, back on Tanoshi Island.

'**_Xion... Can you hear me?_**' it asked.

"It's you. I'm glad you're still in my head. Mind telling me what the challenge is this time?" I asked. In case if you're wondering, before I got the first Dream Eater recipe, there's a challenge that I had to complete in order to get it. And it starts with the Keyhole in the center of the room. The challenge that time was to defeat ten of those Shadows without using magic, items, or attack commands. How did I beat them? The challenge never said anything about attacking those things regularly with the Keyblade. That said, I wondered what the next challenge was.

'_**This one is a little harder than the last one,**_' the voice told me. The moment it said that, lots of those weird pirates with weird cutlass appeared out of nowhere, surrounding me. '**_One of these Pirates are different. Find that Pirate and destroy it._**'

"Like that is possible for me!" I yelled. "They all look the same!" As soon as I said that, one of them started to attack me from behind. I dodge-rolled out of the way and blocked attacks from other Pirates.

"Lapin! Help me find a Pirate that is different from the rest without carelessly attacking them!" I ordered my Dream Eater, as we got out of the group. I saw her look unsure of the idea. "I know this seems impossible, but that's the challenge that we have to complete! I'm counting on you!" After a few seconds of silence, Lapin nodded her head in understanding and observed the group with me. We both charged in from different sides and blocked every attack that they threw at us.

After an hour or so of blocking and observing, we were surrounded by them again. "Lapin. Did you see any physical difference in any of them?" I asked my partner. I heard a sound of disappointment and sighed. I observed all of those Heartless again. It wasn't until long that my eyes were locked onto one of them. One look at that Pirate made me look at the others again before looking back at it.

Unlike those other Pirates, that one was holding its cutlass in its left hand instead of its right. The eye patch was covering its left eye and, when the other Pirates' cutlass had a sad-like marking on it, the markings on that cutlass seemed happy. Those were enough evidence that that was the Pirate that we were looking for.

"Lapin," I whispered, looking at the small Dream Eater without turning my head. "Once I perform a Link Action with you, on my signal, just throw me. And the moment I began the Link Action, just stay where you are while spinning." I saw Lapin's face filled with shock. I knew that it might not agree with the idea, due to the possibility that it might misshoot. However, I trust Lapin, since the day I created it.

Sensing my trust, Lapin nodded her head. I grinned at the rabbit at the two of us were ready for a link. "**Link Action: Swing Fling!**" I yelled, as Lapin grabbed my legs and swung me around. The moment we began the link, all the Heartless jumped on us. Despite being swung, I kept my eyes on the one different from the rest.

'_Wait for it,_' I thought. '_Wait for it._' "NOW!" she shouted, seeing an opening. The rabbit Dream Eater then threw me towards the targeting Heartless. As I got to that Heartless, I cut it in half, destroying it. "Got it!" I exclaimed, as the other Pirates were destroyed.

'_**Good job, Xion,**_' the voice congratulated, as I collected the items that they all dropped. A Dream Eater recipe the appeared in the center of the room. '_**There's the promised recipe. I assume that you know what to do from here.**_'

"Who do take me for?" I asked it, recieving a slight chuckle. "Lapin. Mind getting the recipe for me?"

Doing as asked, the little Dream Eater got the item and handed it to me as I took out a bag that I've been carrying in secret. I put away all the collected items and took a look at the recipe. '_All that's left is putting this recipe in the Dream Eater's Recipe Book and see if I have the needed items on me_,' I thought, taking out the said book. As I placed the page back where it belongs, the ripped part glued itself back. Once that was done, I stood up and returned Lapin in its card. '_I better get out of here and get back to the house,_' I mentally told myself, wondering if the crew was getting worried about my absense.

* * *

_***GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

Back with the Straw Hat Pirates, they were still listening to the Ancient Legend, which is not even halfway done.

"I'm hungry," Usopp complained.

"How much longer is this story?" Nami asked.

* * *

**A/N: And that's a wrap. Before any of you forget or ask, I'm still open on the next 'Dream Eater partner' idea. Last day is June 8th, folks. Until next time. :)**


	13. Meeting the Dragons

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing and PMing me guys. And now, the moment we've all been waiting for. The next Dream Eater partner for Xion is... going to be revealed in this chapter. Sorry but, I don't spoil surprises, folks. :3 Now then, let's start this chapter!**

* * *

When I got out of that cave, I realized how dark it is. It made me wonder how long I was gone. Then again, with all those dead ends and traps that Lapin and I had to avoid, it's reasonable for me to be gone for so long.

I continued walking back to the house, wondering if the Dream Eater can wait a little longer for its rebirth. I can't wait to see what kind of animal it looks like. Of course, it's impossible for me to do that right now, since I left all the items that I collected before joining Luffy and the rest back on the ship. I already took a look at the needed items for creating the new Dream Eater, and one of the items that I need to create it aren't on me right now. I'd love to go back to the ship right now, but that would make my leave a little more suspicious for the others.

When I got back to Bokuden's place, I was surprised that he was still telling his story. Usopp, Zoro and Sanji were asleep and Nami and Luffy were gone. I would understand why Apis is gone, but why would Nami and Luffy leave. To get away from hearing this never-ending legend? If that was true, then why are the other Straw Hat crew still here? I was going to go and look for them, when I saw the sun rise.

I love sunrise and sunset. It brings back some happy memories, especially sunsets. I was on a clock tower with two other guys. Their faces are shadowed, so I don't know what they look like. We were always having ice cream there, to see the sunset. I may not remember who those two boys are, but I do know that they are important to me. I can't wait to regain all my memories. I want to know how I ended up in Tanoshi Island and where I really come from. Now that I think about it, the scenery of that memory doesn't look like an island. It's either that, or I lived in a big island. I don't know. Just thinking about it makes me even more curious about my past.

"Hey guys! You gotta see this!" a familiar, cheerful voice said, getting me out of my trance.

"What happened here?" a female voice asked. I walked inside and saw Luffy and Nami back in the living room. Nami noticed Bokuden still talking about the legend. "Incredible. He's still talking."

"Hey, wake up," Luffy told the sleeping Usopp. "There's something you've gotta see." He then popped Usopp's bubble, which surprised the sleeping long-nose.

"I'm up!" he screamed, waking up the others, except Bokuden, surprisingly.

"What? Morning already?" Zoro asked.

"That old geezer's story was so long, we fell asleep," Sanji explained, stretching.

"Ah! Xion!" Nami called, pointing at me. "Where were you?!"

"I went out for a walk," I lied.

"Went out for a walk my butt! A walk doesn't take all day to finish!"

"Alright, you got me," I said, sweating a bit. "I was doing some training."

"Like hell you were!"

'_How does she know what's a lie and what isn't?_' I mentally asked.

"If you did, then why didn't you tell us and why didn't Apis see you anywhere in the village?" Nami questioned.

I was thinking of an excuse, but I got nothing that could help me in this situation. Curse that Apis for tattle-taling. Even though she's a kid, I'm going to get her one of these days.

All of a sudden, a villager came by and shouted, "Big trouble! Bokuden-san. Where's Apis?"

"What's wrong?" Nami asked.

"You're pirates, right? There's a Marine fleet anchoring at the bay right now!" he exclaimed.

"Say what?!" I asked, not believing what I just heard.

"They couldn't be... still after Apis?" Nami muttered.

"What is with this kid?" Usopp asked.

"Everyone, come with me," our navigator told us.

"Yes, Nami-san!" Sanji quickly agreed.

"Why?" Luffy asked.

"Just come on!"

"What about gramps over there?" Zoro asked.

"We'll let him rest here for now."

"Hey, if Bokuden-san wakes up, tell him that we'll protect Apis," I told the villager.

"O-okay."

* * *

As we followed Nami and Luffy to wherever it is that they were taking us, it turns out they were leading us to the mountain where I found the second Dream Eater recipe. When we went inside, most of us were really surprised to find a dragon in there. And a big one at that.

"Hey, everyone!" Apis called from the top of the dragon.

"Just like Grandpa Bokuden said, the legendary Sennenryuu," Nami told us.

"Yeah! Isn't it cool?!" Luffy asked.

"It's not like this is your dragon!" I yelled at him.

"So when you get closer to the Grand Line, you see things like this?" Zoro asked.

"Well, we've seen Sea Kings, but this is nothing like them," Sanji said.

"Are... are you sure that it's tame?" Usopp asked, his mouth wide. When he asked that, the Sennenryuu licked his face.

"Ah! Sometimes he's a bit senile," Apis warned. "If he thinks you're food, he'll eat you."

"Too late!" Usopp cried, as the dragon has his head in his mouth.

"But it doesn't hurt, right?" Luffy laughed. "You look like a trout."

"A-a-a-are you just going to stand there? Help me out!"

"Just let him eat him," our swordsman coldly suggested.

"Zoroooo..."

"You better not, he'll poison you," Sanji tried to help.

"Shut up, Love-Cook!"

* * *

A few minutes later, Usopp finally got out of the dragon's mouth and was hiding behind a rock. It's reasonable. The dragon thought of Usopp as food. Who knows if it thinks that again and actually eats him?

"What the Marines really want... is the Sennenryuu," Nami announced. "The truth, after thinking it over, is that we've decided to take the Sennenryuu back to Lost Island."

"Y-you can't be serious! The Marines are closing in!" Usopp reminded. "It's hard enough getting away just by ourselves, but with something that big..."

"Ryuuji really wants to go home!" Apis said, with a pleading face.

"And I bet Luffy said, 'Sure! I'll take you back home!' or made some other stupid promise," our long-nose sniper guessed.

"Yeah, I promised him that," the said pirate told him.

"But we have no idea where it is! How are we suppose to get there?!"

"Things'll work out."

"No, they won't!"

"Just give it up, Usopp," I calmly told him. "Once the captain makes a promise, he keeps that promise. Or so it seems."

"I think if Ryuuji returns to his birthplace, he'll get better," Apis told us.

"Animals have instincts," Nami said. "The Sennenryuu might tell us something."

"Yeah! Let's find the Lost Island!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Well, it'll work out somehow," Zoro agreed.

"But what do we do with him?" Sanji asked, smoking. "Just taking him down the mountain alone will attract attention."

Apis gasped, which tells us that she never thought of a plan to get Ryuuji off of this mountain without attracting attention. I saw Nami smirk, which tells me that she had a plan.

"First, we'll need a cart," she said. "One big enough for Ryuuji to ride on."

"Hey now! Wait a second guys!" Usopp yelled. "Can't any of you guys think about it for a second?! If we help out this dragon, we might get caught in the process by the Marines! None of you guys want that to haappen, do you?! Xion, tell them!"

Everyone was staring at me like I'm the captain of the crew. "Usopp, even if what you say is true, will that ever change our captain's mind?" I asked. "Besides, I'd rather help and worry about others that help and worry about myself."

At that point, Usopp gave up and agreed to help Ryuuji.

* * *

We were all outside, taking down some trees to make a cart for Ryuuji. I summoned Lapin so she could help out. A few minutes later, the cart was done.

"This should be perfect for Ryuuji to ride on," Apis cheered.

"For sure!" Luffy happily agreed.

"That's good and all, but we still need to do something about the Marines," I reminded.

"We can fight them," the swordsman suggested.

"I'm okay with that," the chef agreed.

"We can't," Nami disagreed. "We'll put Ryuuji in danger if we do. Leave the transport to me. Then again, the Going Merry is still anchored in the harbor."

"Okay. That's our precious ship we got from Kaya. Just leave it to me," Usopp volunteered. Apis was going to say how cool he was, but he then told Zoro to come along and he wanted to wait until nightfall.

"NO WAY!" our straw hat wearing captain protested.

Nami then led us to one edge of the mountain, with a cape that looks like Usopp's nose. "Bring the ship to this cape that looks like Usopp's nose," she said.

"Hey, you're right! It's Usopp's nose!" said the simple-minded devil fruit user.

"But what will you do?" Usopp asked. "If we bring the ship..."

"It's fine," our navigator interrupted. "I don't think they'll find us here right away. Now then, let's hurry. Sanji-kun, Xion and Luffy, bring Ryuuji to the cart." With that, we all went to work.

* * *

After getting Ryuuji onto his ride, we were waiting for Zoro and Usopp to bring Merry to the cape. While waiting, I was looking over the recipe and wondered what kind of Dream Eater will be born from it. The identity of the creature was somehow smeared, so I don't know what will be created from the needed items.

"Oh no! The Marines are here!" Apis warned. I looked at one side of the cliff and saw a group of them. I wanted to give them some beating for taking away a kid from their home.

But then, my eyes laid on a person wearing a coat just like mine. He had his hood on so I don't know what he looks like. However, any friends of Marines like them are enemies of mine.

"Man. They're earlier than I expected," Nami sighed.

"But what do we do?" Apis asked, panicing.

"Relax, alright? We have these three. Once the Gonig Merry gets in front of the Usopp-nose like cape, we'll move out."

A couple minutes later, Apis suddenly screamed, "Don't! Leave Ryuuji alone!" When she screamed that, the said dragon moved his tail in front of her to protect her from the Marines upcoming gunshots. The guy with the weird hairstyle was talking about something that I couldn't hear due to the distance between us, but I know that it has something to do with Ryuuji.

"Fire!" the Marine captain ordered.

"STOP!" the girl screamed, moving in front of Ryuuji to protect him. I didn't want her to die, so I quickly moved in front of her and used a defense spell. Luckily, Luffy had the same idea, only he would be using his own body as a shield.

"Reflect!" I yelled, putting up a barrier with my Keyblade. Luffy stood next to me and took the other bullets.

"No good!" the straw hat wearing pirate told them.

"Wha-? What are they?!" "They just... the bullets..." "And one of them just summoned a weapon out of nowhere!"

"So you two ate devil fruits," a man with a weird hair-tyle and sunglasses assumed.

"Yeah. I'm a rubberman," Luffy explained. "But Xion didn't eat a devil fruit. "

"Oh. So that's what devil fruit users are like," the guy in a black coat said. "First time seeing it. Ans I agree with what the boy said about the girl. She's no devil fruit user."

"Why do you say that? If she isn't a devil fruit user, then what is she?"

"The girl is a Keyblade weilder. I've seen them from my world."

"Again with this 'different world' stuff?" the man with the sunglasses snarled. "But that doesn't matter right now. Those two are nuisances. Use your swords! Guns won't affect rubber!"

"As for the girl, leave her to me." The man in a black coat took out some cards. "Charge!" At that signal, all the Marines raised their swords and charged towards us.

"Sanji-kun!" Nami called.

"Yes, Nami-san!" he answered, getting the message. "You bastards. Get away from Xion-san!" He kicked away the Marines that were going to attack me.

'_I could've handle them myself,_' I thought.

"Don't look away, Xion," I heard a man said from behind me. It was the guy in black. How did he sneak up on me like that?

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" I asked, pointing my Keyblade at him.

"What? Don't play that kind of game, Xion," was all he said. I had no idea what he meant, nor do I want to know what he meant by that. There's no way he knows me. This is our first meeting, how does he know me? Unless...

"Do you really know me?" I asked. "If so, how do you know me?"

"What are you talking about, Xion? You're just as crazy as Roxas, except he dyed his hair and changed the style, somewhat."

'_Roxas?_' I thought. '_Why does that name sound so familiar?_'

"Bastard! Get away from Xion-san!" Sanji said, kicking him away and back to his allies. "Xion-san, are you all right?"

"I'm okay, Sanji," I told him. '_And again, I could've handle him myself._'

"You good for nothing Marines," the weird-style man muttered. "If you want something done right, do it yourself." When he said that, he somehow killed one of his own men, who was going to walk back to the caaptain.

"What the-?" Luffy spoke.

"A knife?" the chef guessed.

"I don't think so," I said, looking at the hand he killed the Marine with. "He doesn't have a weapon on him."

"I am known as Erik the Whirlwind. A mercenary under the employ of Nelson Royale," he introduced. "I have no interest in you pirates. My only concern is the Sennenryuu behind you. If you oppose me, you will taste the power of the Kama Kama no mi from Erik the Kamaitachi (scythe weasel)."

"What does he mean by 'Kama Kama'?" our chef asked.

"Okama?" the straw hat captain guessed.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Nami!" Luffy called. "Aren't they there yet?"

"Almost," she told us, looking at the cape.

"Being able to see the ocean from so far away, Nami-san is so wonderful~" Oh dear. Loverboy's back.

"I hope they hurry," I said.

"Hey! You riffraff!" Erik yelled. "Are you listening to me?!"

"Erik the Gay Man(okama), right?" Luffy asked. "I heard you."

"Hahaha! Gay Man. That's a good nickname for him!" the guy in black laughed.

"Shut up, gambler!" Erik yelled, his face red in anger. "And you, it's not 'kama' in 'okama'! It's 'kama kama' in 'kamaitachi'!"

"Well, I don't care either way!" Luffy said.

"You will regret angering me. **Kama Kama no...** **Tsumujikaze!**(Whirlwind!)" When he announced that move, not only did Luffy and Sanji get three cuts on their arm, the ground behind us got cut as well! How did that happen?!

"What the-?!" Luffy breathed in shock.

"Now I get it," Sanji said, gripping his arm. "He meant 'Kamaitachi'."

"Luffy! Sanji! You guys all right?!" I asked, obviously knowing that they aren't all right. "I'll heal those for you." I pointed my Keyblade at the wounds. "Cure!" I said, as green light made their way to the cuts, healing them.

"The wind I create is as sharp as a Meitou(named blade)," Erik explained. "Tearing a person limb from limb is child's play. I'm impressed that you, girl, aren't cut by my attack."

"I guess it's because of my cloak," I said. "It can't be cut."

"Well then, if you don't want me to cut your head off, step aside. That Sennenryuu belongs to me."

"No way!" Luffy and I replied.

"I see. Then you want another one of my Kama Kama no Tsujikaze."

"Are they there yet, Nami?!" I asked.

"Yes! They're set! We're leaving now! Sanji-kun! Luffy! Xion!"

"Yes, Nami-swan!~" Oh, boy. Why did I join this crew with? "We'll be right there!" he then said, as we ran towards her, Apis and Ryuuji.

"You're not going anywhere, Xion," the man in black said, chasing after me.

"Buzz off, already!" I told him, giving him a taste of my Strike Raid. When we got to the cart, Sanji volunteered to push it down whereas Luffy and I got on it with Nami and Apis.

"Nami-san! Xion-san! Time for my catapult of love!" Someone do something about his womanizer mode already! Anyway, when he announced that, he kicked off a rock that was behind us, causing the cart to go downhill, literally.

"You won't escape!" Erik said, getting in front of us.

"That's what you think! **Stop!**" The moment I called that attack, the guy actually stopped in his tracks.

"What the hell?!"

"Get him, Luffy!"

"Okay! **Gomu Gomu no... Pistol!**" When Luffy shouted that move, he strecthed his arm and punched the guy out of the way.

As we continued to slide down, a boulder was in the way.

"Luffy!" Nami called.

"Got it!" he answered, thinking ahead of her. "**Gomu Gomu no Gattling Gun!**" Luffy destroyed the boulder with his punches. When the boulder broke, some of the pieces were going to crush us, if Sanji and Ryuuji didn't destroy them before that happen.

"This is nuts!" Apis screamed, hanging onto Ryuuji, face somewhat blue.

"Well, that's how it is!" Luffy laughed. The next thing you know, his head somehow got stuck on a tree branch. Ryuuji used his tail to grab onto him so we wouldn't leave him.

"Moron!" I shouted, my teeth looking razor sharp. "Duck when you see a tree!"

After I said that, Luffy got his head off of the branch and came back onto Ryuuji's back(pun not intended).

"Thanks for that," Luffy said, holding onto his straw hat.

"Try using your brain so something like that won't happen again!" I added, teeth still sharp. After that, I started to hear Apis having fun with the ride.

When we got to the cape, we rode off of it and crashed into a Marine ship's mast, tumbling it down. After some skips when we got off the mast, we got to the ocean. I almost lost my bag when we got off the cape, if I didn't use Magnet on it.

"I don't remember this being part of the plan," I said to myself.

"So! Result, alright!" Apis said, giving Zoro and Usopp a thumbs up.

"Hahaha! She's right!" Luffy agreed.

"PURSUE! Pursue that ship!" a Marine ordered.

"The mast is in the way!" another Marine said. "We can't move at all!"

"What?!"

* * *

Some time later, after we got out of that situation at last, Usopp was tying Ryuuji's cart onto the ship. When that was done, Luffy ordered the ship to head to the Lost Island. One problem with that command...

"Which way is it?" Usopp asked. When he asked that, all he got from our stupid captain are guesses of where it might be.

"Are we really going to be okay?" I asked, having some more regrets about joining this crew.

"Guess we'll just pick a direction and try it," Zoro said.

"It's not on any map, after all," Nami added with a wink.

"The keen Nami-san is so wonderful~!" Sanji complimented.

"You think everything about Nami is wonderful," I muttered.

"The annoyed Xion-san is so amazing~!" he then added.

'_In what way?_' I thought, wanting to vomit.

"Let's go! To the Lost Island!" Luffy ordered. That said, we went off at a random direction to the Lost Island. As we sail to that Island, my mind was then on the new Dream Eater recipe. I took it out and quickly went into my and Nami's room to find the last item needed to create it. Luckily for me, I have the item, few of it, that is. I took that ingredient and went back on deck.

"Hey guys!" I called, getting their attention. "While we're sailing to the Lost Island, I'd like you to see something."

"Yes, Xion-swan~!" Sanji replied.

"Okay, everyone, let's go over to Xion to see what she wants to show us!" Luffy ordered. Everyone went with that order and went over to me.

"Look at this," I said, showing them the new recipe.

"What is that, Xion?" Luffy asked.

"It's the new Dream Eater recipe," I told him, getting 'what?!'s and looks of surprises.

"When did you get it?" Usopp asked.

"Remember what I said about my walk? I lied about that. I actually went to that mountain to find this. I would've told you guys, but in order for me to get this recipe, I have to complete a challenge. If I asked you guys to come along, you would've messed up somewhere in that challenge and I didn't want to take that chance."

"That's why you lied?" Nami asked.

"I don't care why you lied, just hurry up and make something out of this so I can eat it!" Luffy demanded.

I wacked him in the head with the other crewmates and said, "I thought you knew by now that Dream Eaters are living beings, not food!"

"Oh. Sorry," he apologized.

"But he's right," Apis said. "I want to see the new Dream Eater!"

"Yeah, Xion," Usopp agreed. "Show us what the thing looks like."

"I'm interested in knowing how you create them," Nami added.

"I'm more interested in knowing what the ingredients look like," Sanji said. Thank god he's not in lover mode right now.

"I don't care how it's done," Zoro said. "Though I do want to know what it looks like."

Not wanting to disappoint them, I got out the needed items and placed them on the deck. "Everyone just take a step back," I told them.

"What are those?" Luffy asked, trying to touch one. I smack his hand away before he could try to eat one of the ingredients.

"Those are the ingredients for this Dream Eater," I said. "Now take a step back, captain." Luffy got the message and stepped back like everyone else. I summoned Starlight, held it firmly and pointed it at the items. I concentrated, trying to find the voice that called for help.

'_It's almost time, you know,_' I thought to it. '_You ready?_'

'_**Of course I am!**_' it happily said. '_**I'm finally getting reborn!**_'

'_Even though you're previous master said that I'll create new Dream Eaters, he actually meant that you'll be reborn when I do this. Well, it's time._' I slowly opened my eyes and saw the tip of my Keyblade glowing. It then shot out the beam of light at the ingredients, causing it to glow. Everyone covered their eyes to prevent themselves from getting blinded. Once the glow died down, a green, dragon Dream Eater was born.

"Alright! A success!" I cheered, as Luffy and the others cheered along with me.

"Alright! A new nakama!" Luffy cheered.

"So we got ourselves our own dragon," Zoro observed.

"It looks kind of cute," Nami complimented, as the dragon scratched itself like a dog.

"Xion-swan, you look so cool when you create Dream Eaters~!" guess who complimented.

"So what are we going to name it?" Apis asked.

"Niku!" Captain Stupid quickly suggested.

"Horrible name!" we all rejected. Who the hell would want a name that means meat?

"I know a perfect name for our nakama," Usopp said. "We will name it, Hisatsu Ryuboshi!"

"Rejected!" we all protested again. Just what kind of name is 'sure kill dragon star'?! It then got more wild with more ridiculous names. Some that I don't want to list. Even the Dream Eater rejected the names they're giving it.

"ENOUGH!" I yelled, blowing everyone back a bit. "Now listen here! I am the one who's doing the naming because I was the one who created Wyvern."

"Who?" they all asked.

"That's the name for the Dream Eater." I then walked up to the said creature. "Well? Do you like the name 'Wyvern'?" I kindly asked. I got a happy expression on its face, stating that it really likes the name.

"It accepted the name!" my crew said in surprise.

"Okay, then everyone! When this is all over, we throw a welcome party for our new crewmate!" Luffy suggested.

"Aye!" we all agreed.


	14. Lost Island and Another Challenge?

While sailing to the Lost Island, wherever it is, I was looking at the Dream Eater Instruction Guide to know what kind of Link Actions I will be able to do with Wyvern, who is a Ryu Dragon Dream Eater. Looking at the links that I'm able to do with him, I began to train with Wyvern to practice with those links. Before I got the chance, I heard Apis's voice.

"Sorry for the wait, guys! Lunch is ready!" She ran to the back of the ship, where most of the crew gathered.

"That's nice of you, Apis," I shouted. "But, I'm not hungry. You guys can either eat without me or give my portion to Luffy."

"Okay," she replied.

"Oh, Sanji!" I heard Usopp called, as I began some training with Wyvern. "Thank goodness. You made lunch today." I swear, Apis must be mad to hear that.

"Well, then. Wyvern, you ready for some training?" I asked my new partner, who nodded at my question.

Getting into our fighting stances, Wyvern and I began our training. We've exchanged a lot of blows at each other. Wyvern, despite the fact that he was just created, already knew how to fly. His speed and power was incredible. Like most dragons, he can breathe out fire. Not only can he breathe some out, Wyven can even create fire by slashing or charging into his opponents.

"We got it!" the two of us heard Luffy shouted, having us to stop our training. "Lost Island is east of Gunkan Island!"

"Ryuuji said so!" Apis added.

"Guess we can stop our training here," I told Wyvern. "You're really strong. I can't wait to do a Link Action with you." That statement got him really happy, he did some flips.

"Xion!" Nami called me. "Lost Island is-"

"I heard," I interrupted her. "It's at the east of Gunkan Island."

"Oh. So you heard. Okay then." With that, she and Usopp ran to the helm.

"Okay! Set our course to Lost Island! Let's go!" Luffy shouted.

'_We were trying to get to Lost Island,_' I thought.

As we sail to Lost Island, I was cleaning my necklace, or the seashell at least. I haven't been taking care of it since I joined this crew. I held the seashell over my ear and listen to the waves, even though there wasn't any point of listening to it now that I'm sailing across the ocean. Still, it's nice to hear it from a seashell every once in a while.

"Hey, Usopp!" Luffy called. "Can you see anything?"

"Nope! Not a thing!" our sharpshooter replied.

I laughed a little at our captain's hastiness. He obviously wants to get there as fast as possible. I then turned to Wyvern, who's napping on the deck. Well, I suppose it's nice to relax every once in a while as well.

My mind automatically went to what that guy in a black coat said. '_Were we allies?_' I wondered. '_Who's this 'Roxas' that he spoke of back there?_' I was getting a small headache from thinking so much about my past. It was like trying to force myself to remember. Pocketing my treasure, I stopped thinking about it for a while and gently woke Wyvern up.

"Mind taking me out for a ride?" I asked, recieving a happy screech from the Ryu Dragon.

I slowly got on him, as he flapped his wings. Charging to the other side of the ship, Wyvern jumped as high as he can. And what do you know? He flew, with me on him. With wings as small as his, I had a small doubt that he would fly with someone riding him. I know looks can be decieving, but this is a little ridiculous.

As we flew, I saw Apis, leaning against a railing, staring at Ryuuji. We both knew why she would. It won't be long until she complete her promise.

"AHHHHH!" a scream from Usopp's voice was heard. Wyvern and I turned to see him staring and pointing at us. Nami was staring at him as well.

"What?" I calmly asked.

"That thing already knows how to fly?!" he asked. That question got Nami to look at us.

"Hey, it's true!" she agreed. Their shouting got our captain and Apis to stare at us as well. Man, I hate being the center of attention.

"The dragon knows how to fly?! Awesome!" Luffy complimented us, with stars in his eyes.

"Well, yeah," I answered.

"Since when?!" they asked.

"Just now, I guess."

"No fair, Xion!" Usopp complained. "Get off of your dragon! I want to ride!"

"Not before me, Usopp!" Luffy argued.

"Speaking of which, Ryuuji, what was it like to fly?" Apis asked, ignoring us.

"All right, we'll get down," I shouted. When I was about to order Wyvern to get back to the deck, something caught my eyes. "Hey, Luffy! There's something up ahead!"

Luffy looked at the front to see what I saw. It was some sort of dark cloud. I don't know how to describe it, really.

"Do you want me and Wyvern to go there and investigate?" I asked him.

"Nah. We'll find out when we get there," he told me.

"Oh come on!" I heard Apis screamed. Apparently, so did Wyvern, Usopp and Nami. "I do _not_ think you're a bother! What's with you?! Hey, Ryuuji! Are you listening?! It's not fair for you to keep quiet! Say something!"

"Why is she arguing with Ryuuji?" I asked, recieving a small screech from Wyvern. "It was a rhetorical question." I told him, as we both flew down to Merry. While flying down, I heard something.

'_**Get me out of here...**_' it said. '_**I want to get out of here...**_' That voice and desperate cry could mean only one thing. We're getting close to another Dream Eater. It wouldn't surprise me if I can find the Dream Eaters on every island that we stop at in the Grand Line, but we're in the East Blue. This has to be a coincidence. If not, I'll be upset if the creator either lied to me or didn't know that he actually placed them all in the East Blue. It would've made my trip to the Grand Line nothing but a waste, probably.

When Wyvern landed on the Merry, I got off and turned my head to the front of the ship to see that we were at the front of that weird fog. That 'fog' was in a shape of a pirate ship. Not only that, it's waving like it's a mirage or a reflection of a ship from the water. As the ship got closer to it, it began to disappear! Disappear, I said!

"Whoa! This is cool, Nami! Look at this!" he called our navigator.

"I'm... already looking," I heard her say.

"H... How is that even... We're not even..." I tried to ask.

"Where am I going?" Luffy asked, laughing at the end. The way he laughed sounded so evil, it was like he's being possessed by something! Nami and Usopp screamed at the sight of this, it caused the rest of the crew and Apis to look at the front.

When the whole ship passed through the weird mirage, it suddenly became foggy.

"What? Fog?" Zoro wondered out loud.

"I thought it was important the way Nami-san screamed like that," Sanji said.

"What's going on here?" the said navigator asked.

"What the hell happened back there?" Usopp followed. "I saw our ship right in front of us and then... we kind of plunged into it."

"I can't see a thing at all," Luffy said.

"What did you expect?" I asked the captain. "You can barely see a thing when you're in a fog."

"It was almost like... a mirage," Usopp continued.

"A mirage?" Nami repeated. "Of course! I've read it in a book once. When cold sea water and warm sea water are mixed together, a mirage appears."

"Okay, but what does a mirage have anything to do with this fog?" I asked.

"Well..."

"Forget that I asked," I interrupted. "Wyvern, try to blow this fog away." I then ordered the dragon Dream Eater. Wyvern did as told and blew the fog away with his wings. Just as the fog was blown away, it started raining, heavily.

"Is this part of the mirage too?" Usopp asked.

"Of course not," I muttered.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS OCEAN?!" Nami irritatedly asked. Just as she did, the ship started rocking. A good reason for that would be the waves. But of course everyone knows that a bad weather equals to big waves.

The waves were so rough, it felt like the whole ship would flip if we don't get out of it.

"Sanji-kun! Zoro!" Nami called. "I'll take in the sails! Unfasten the ropes!"

"Yes, Nami-san~!" guess who answered.

"You have to get to safety, too!" Zoro told Apis, attempting to lead her somewhere in the ship.

"No! I have to be with Ryuuji!" she protested, running to the back.

"Idiot! Just being with him won't help at all!"

"Ryuuji is just sitting there helpless! I have to get to him-!" Before Apis could finish what she was saying, the ship leaned to the side, causing her to trip and slide down to the side that it was leaning on.

"Wyvern! Help Apis!" I ordered the Ryu Dragon, who prevented her from crashing into one side of the ship. Running to them, I said, "Look, Apis. I know how you feel about helping Ryuuji, but this is the one situation where you can't really help him." Agreeing with me, Apis went into the ship.

"Hurry! We'll be in danger if we don't get out of here!" Nami told us.

'_**Behind the ship...**_' the voice from earlier warned.

I didn't get the warning, but I just went to the back of the ship with Wyvern to see what's happening back there. When I got there, the rope just snapped, therefore forcing the Sennenryuu to separate from us. Not wanting Apis to be sad about breaking her promise like this, I quickly grab the ropes with Wyvern's help, thinking that this was what the Dream Eater's voice was trying to warn me. I then summoned Lapin to help us grab hold of the ropes.

"Hang on, guys!" I told them. When I felt the rope slipping through my fingers, even though I have gloves on, I called Luffy for extra help. "Luffy! The ropes to Ryuuji's cart are slipping away!"

When he heard and understood what I meant, he quickly ran to the back and used his devil fruit powers to grab onto the said dragon's cart.

A few minutes later, we were finally out of that storm. Funny thing about the storm is... that it surrounds an island. And by surround, I mean _surround_!

"A storm that surround an island, huh?" Nami thought out loud, agreeing with my thoughts.

"It's like it's there to prevent people from entering," I added. "At least it would explain why no one was able to find this place." I turned to my two worn out Dream Eaters. "You two get back in your cards for some rest." That said, Lapin and Wyvern returned to their 'rooms'.

"You know, instead of an island, it looks more like a castle," Luffy stated.

When we got to the island, we saw several stones that looks like a dragon. Usopp assumed that this island is the island where Sennenryuu came from, but somehow, I have some doubts about it.

"In any case, I wonder how long it's been since anyone lives here," Sanji said. "Looks like a jungle took over."

"By the way, where do you think the Dragon's Nest is?" Nami asked. No one had the chance to answer, as we heard Apis calling Ryuuji for something.

"Come on! We're right where the Dragon's Nest is! Come on! Get up!" When Ryuuji opened his eyes, Apis had a sad look on her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"He doesn't know where the Dragon's Nest is," she explained. "Maybe this isn't Lost Island."

"What?" Zoro asked.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Sanji said.

"Man. And we went through that storm to get here," Usopp complained.

"Apis!" Luffy called. "Look at that mountain! If we climb up there, we'll be able to see the whole mountain!"

"He's right," Nami agreed. "We won't know anything just by standing here thinking. Want to go take a look?"

"Sure!" Apis happily replied.

'_Like Lapin and Wyvern, the next Dream Eater might be somewhere on that mountain,_' I thought. '_Or at least, at the center of this island._'

"Alright! Let's go!" our captain ordered.

* * *

We began to walk to the top of the mountain, pulling or pushing Ryuuji's cart. Well, all except for Nami and Apis. I didn't summon Lapin and Wyvern out to help us, even though it would make the cart easier to pull or push with more people and that it would be a good training for them. But they needed a break, after going through that storm.

"That conniving Nami, making us do all the work," Usopp muttered. "Why doesn't she help push a little?"

"You over there!" Nami called to Usopp. "Stop chattering and push."

"Quit enjoying this, dammit!"

"I shall stop chattering and push~!" Sanji said. "Ah. The lively Nami-san is so wonderful~!"

"I feel like wanting to puke, hearing him say these kind of things," I muttered to myself.

We kept pushing the cart until we got to the top. On our way there, we ended up in a town of some sort. All the buildings seemed destroyed, which would prove the fact that no one lives here.

"Wow. Everything's run down," Luffy said, as most of us continues to push the cart. "Looks like people really did live here."

"You can only tell because of the buildings," Zoro grunted.

"But why is there no one now?" Usopp asked.

"Who knows. Maybe they found a place easier for them to live," Sanji believed.

"That might be possible," I, for once, agreed with him. "Hey. Where's Apis go?" I asked, noticing that the girl isn't with Nami.

"She's over there," Nami answered, pointing at where the girl is. "Hey, Apis? You're going to get left behind."

I saw her run to our navigator, with a bird on her shoulder. "You know what? This little bird told me, 'There is a building with a dragon mark on it at the top of the mountain'!"

"You sure?" Usopp asked.

"Let's hurry! It might be the Dragon's Nest!" the little girl excitedly said, running ahead of us.

"Nami! Hurry up!" Luffy called, as we saw the said girl dazing off.

"Ah. Wait up!" she called, catching up.

We made it to the top and saw a door of some sort with a picture of a Sennenryuu. And I have to say, pulling a cart while you're walking up the stairs is not good for you.

"Ah. We finally made it," our sharpshooter sighed.

"Thanks for showing us the way!" Apis thanked the bird, as it flew away.

"We sure came up long way," Sanji stated.

"Thanks for you help, guys," Apis thanked us.

"Yep. Good work," Nami followed.

I looked at the Sennenryuu picture and thought to myself, '_Not that far now, hopefully. Wait a little longer, Dream Eater._'

"This is a picture of a Sennenryuu, right?" Nami guessed.

"Looks like it," Luffy agreed.

"Is this building the Dragon's Nest?" Sanji wondered.

"This place?" Usopp asked.

"Wait a second, where's the door?" Zoro realized. "How are we going to get in?"

"This is the door," Luffy said.

"You idiot. We don't have the key," Nami reminded him. "How are we going to get inside?"

I noticed a little hole on the door where one of the Sennenryuu's claw is. It's almost the size of Apis's pendant. I assumed that her pendant is the key to this door. I faced Apis and saw that she was thinking the same thing, for she was holding it and walked up to the door.

"Apis... That pendant... Could it be?" Nami asked, catching up to our thoughts.

"Is it the key to open the door to the Dragon's Nest?" Sanji followed.

"It should be," I said. "The size and shape is exactly the same."

Apis nodded her head in agreement and reached up to put the pendant in the hole. Or tried to. Due to her height, she couldn't reach it.

"I can't reach," she whined, her eyes watering.

"Man, you sure are short, Apis" Luffy insulted.

"What was that?!"

"Alrighty then, just leave it to me," he volunteered, taking her pendant.

'_**Don't! Stop him!**_' the voice warned me. having a bad feeling about its tone, I tried to stop Luffy.

Before I could, and before he could put the pendant in, the ground under us suddenly collapsed. We all fell to who-knows-where.

After that fall, we all landed hard on the branches. Or are they big roots? I don't know. We sort of crashed into them while falling. With wide eyes, we, including Ryuuji, looked up at the hole that we fell in.

"We're... alive, right?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah. Seems so," Zoro answered.

"By the way, whose idea was it to use a key up there?" Sanji questioned.

Ignoring their conversation, I began to wonder how I was going to get to the next recipe. It's good that we're alive and inside, but this place is too dark to see.

'**_Well this is unexpected,_**' the voice that's usually in my head suddenly spoke.

"Who's there?!" Luffy asked, as he and the other members of the Monster Trio got into battle positions.

"Sh-sh-show yourself!" Usopp demanded, trembling.

"If you're here to get Ryuuji, you're not getting him!" Apis yelled.

"Relax guys," I told them, getting confused looks on their faces. "What am I going to do now? I can't start this challenge with them here, right?"

"Xion, who-"

'_**That's not entirely true,**_' the voice interrupted Nami. '_**You can still do the challenge, but you have to have them to cooperate.**_'

"Yeah, I get that. However, how can I be sure that they will help me complete the challenge?"

'_**That's what you have to find out on your own.**_'

"Oh come on." I heard someone clear their throat and turned to see suspicious looks on my crewmates' and Apis's faces. I'm not sure about Ryuuji's face. "You want to know, don't you?" I asked, getting nods. "Okay. It just so happens that there is a Dream Eater recipe here," I explained. "My first clue to that is the voice of the Dream Eater itself. I also noticed so far, or assumed, that the Dream Eater recipe is somewhere on the center of the island that their creator left them. Not only that, like I said earlier on the ship, there's also a challenge that I have to complete in order to get that recipe. If I fail that challenge, I won't be able to get the recipe. If you guys cooperate with me to complete this challenge, you have to pay very close attention to what the challenge is. Otherwise, the recipe will be stuck here for who knows how long."

"So you want us to help you get it, right?" Luffy asked.

"In a way, yes."

"Then, where is it?" Zoro asked.

"Xion just said that we won't get it if we don't do what the challenge is," Nami told him.

"And I asked where it is."

"It won't reveal itself unless we did the challenge," I said. "So will you guys help?"

"Yes, Xion-swan~!" Sanji agreed, of course.

"Just tell us what the challenge is," the captain said.

"Before I get to that, I have to find a Keyhole," I told him, looking around the room. It didn't take long for me to find something glowing. I ran up to the glow, summoning my Keyblade. When I got close enough, I pointed it at the hole, shooting out that beam of light.

"All right, Voice. What's the challenge now?" I asked. And yes, I'm calling that voice 'Voice' from now on.

'_**This challenge is one that you will not like,**_' Voice told me. Just then, there was a little light and ten Shadows came out of nowhere.

"Hey! It's those things!" Luffy shouted.

"AHHHHH! They're here, too!?" Usopp and Nami screamed.

"Hey, hey. What is this?" Sanji asked.

"What's the challenge?" I asked Voice, having a really bad feeling about the challenge.

'_**One of these Shadows is a coward. Destroy that Shadow,**_' he told me.

"SO IT'S THE SAME CHALLENGE AS THE PREVIOUS ONE, ONLY THAT IT'S BY PERSONALITY!" I summarized, with my teeth as sharp as a shark's.

"Okay! Let's beat them all up!" Luffy ordered. AND DID HE NOT HEAR WHAT THE CHALLENGE WAS?!

"Yeah!" Zoro and Sanji agreed. And let me rephrase that. Did _THEY_ not hear what the challenge was?

Those three idiots charged in at the Heartless. Before I let them do anything, I wacked them in the head with my Keyblade.

"What was that for?!" they asked, holding the bump on their head.

Before I answered, I used my Stop spell. Sure I can't defeat the other Shadows, but that doesn't mean I can't freeze them. After stopping their movements, I turned to the idiot trio.

"IDIOTS! I thought you heard what the challenge was!"

"We did!" they said.

"Okay then. What did you hear?" I asked them, wondering if it's just me.

"Just destroy those monsters," they all answered.

"YOU DUMBASSES! So I wasn't being paranoid!" I yelled, wacking them in the head with Starlight again, only harder than the first. "Forget you three! Don't help me! Stay in the sidelines!"

"What?! Why?!"

"The challenge was to destroy the Shadow that's _not_ fighting!" I reminded them, with my teeth razor sharp and my eyes similiar to a demon's. "If you just go and destroy all of them, we won't get the Dream Eater recipe!"

"Then what do you want us to do?" Zoro asked.

"Stay on the defense. You guys know how to do that, don't you?" I asked, giving them a scary look and a deathly aura.

"Y-yes ma'am!" they saluted in fear.

"Then get going and stay on defense!" I ordered, kicking them over to the frozen Shadows, who, by chance, can move again.

I stay in the sidelines, looking for the coward Shadow. I counted the Shadows that were fighting Luffy, Zoro and Sanji, who were staying on defense like I told them to. There were nine of them fighting. One of them is somewhere in this room, not fighting us.

"Hey, Xion!" Usopp called me. I turned to see what was so important that he had to call me. "The Shadow that's not fighting is over there!"

I turned to see where he was pointing and saw that the said Pureblood was hiding behind a rock, watching the battle.

"Thanks, Usopp!" I thanked, running to the coward. It noticed me too late, for I had just killed it. With that, the other Heartless disintegrated and the recipe appeared in the middle of the room.

'_**Congratulations, Xion,**_' Voice said. '_**You completed the challenge with the help of your crew this time. There's the recipe. Please accept it.**_'

"You know I will," I told it, getting the said recipe. Once I touched it, the room became bright enough for all of us to see.

"Now we don't have to worry about the dark," Nami said.

"Hey, guys," Luffy called us, looking up. "What do you think that is?"

His question got the rest of us to look up at the ceiling. Not only were there holes on them, there were also drawings on them, making us wonder what they are about.

* * *

**A/N: Another chapter done. For those who are wondering what the next Dream Eater was obtained, I'll just say that it's a dark-style Dream Eater. For those who are wondering about that, yes, Dream Eaters have different styles. One small problem that I would like you all to help me with: decide which dark-style Dream Eater is the next one to join. I know, I should've thought about that already, but there were too many ideas in my head for all of them in this part of the story. So yeah, please help me decide on the Dark-style Dream Eater. For those of you who already knows about Lapin being a Dark attribute, that's not a style. If you want to know about what Dream Eater is a Dark-style, go to google and type in 'dark style dream eaters'. Until June 22, folks. :)**

**Ah yes, for those of you who are wondering why I already decided on a Dream Eater style but not on the Dream Eater itself, you'll find out the reason in the next few chapters, that is, if you can see the reason. (insult not intended)**


	15. Moving Back

We all looked up at the ceiling, noticing the drawings on it.

"Wow. What a huge house," Luffy stated. "What's that a picture of?"

"I don't think this is a house, Luffy," I corrected.

"She's right," Usopp agreed. "And I think that's a map up there."

"Yeah, but you can't tell what it says since it's crumbling," Sanji told him. "What is this place anyway? Isn't this suppose to be the Dragon's Nest?"

"Dunno," our captain answered.

I was looking at the picture at the ceiling and noticed something. As Usopp said, it's a map. The only thing about this map is that it has pictures of the Sennenryuus.

"Hey, guys," Luffy called. "Look at this. A part of the ceiling fell here."

I turned to the said part and looked above it. I tried to picture what this 'map' looked like before it became like this. When I got a most likely image of it, my eyes widen in realization. If I recall, Ryuuji said that the island will rise. However, this island was hidden, it didn't sink. Which would only mean one thing.

"Wait a second," Nami spoke, looking up.

"What's wrong, Nami-san?" Sanji asked.

"This might not be Lost Island."

"See?" Usopp asked Apis.

"DON'T ACT LIKE A SMARTASS IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE REASON WHY!" Apis yelled, pissed.

"How did you know that, Nami?" Luffy asked.

"The ceiling," I answered for her. "Like Usopp said earlier, it's a map. A map to Lost Island."

"HUH?!" everyone, except Nami and Ryuuji, gasped.

"Just look up at the ceiling," the navigator told them. "Now look at the dome shape island. That island is this island. And this building is that dome."

"Looks that way," Sanji agreed.

"Therefore, the people surrounding that island are most likely the ones who lived here, like Apis's ancestors or something," I continued.

"Our ancestors?" the said girl repeated.

"Say, did any of you guys remember Bokuden's story about Lost Island? I wasn't there, so I don't know what it is."

"He said that the people of Gunkan Island came from a different island," Nami told me.

"Did he?" Luffy asked. Guess he was either asleep at the time.

"Come to think of it, he did say something like that," Usopp said. "Then was the royal court he was talking about located on the island?"

"Probably," Nami said. "We saw statues and drawings of the Sennenryuu when we got on this island. I think that the people of this island worshipped them as gods. Long ago, the Sennenryuu probably flew around here."

"Really? Then the chances of the Dragon's Nest being here are low."

"Not low," I corrected. "The Dragon's Nest is never here to begin with. Ryuuji said that the island will rise. He said nothing about it being hidden. Even if it is hidden, shouldn't this island be in the ocean when we went through that storm?"

"But then, where's the real one?" Apis asked.

"Is it that island with the dragon?" Zoro asked, having us to look up at the said island.

"Exactly," Nami replied. "There's an island drawn ahead of the people who are worshipping, right? That's probably where the real Lost Island is. But..."

"Wait a minute!" Apis interrupted. "Isn't that-?"

"Yeah. No matter how I look at it or think about it, the Dragon's Nest is somewhere on Gunkan Island," I said. "And now that I think about it, Ryuuji said that Lost Island is at the east of Gunkan, didn't he?"

"Well, yeah," Luffy answered. "Why?"

"If he said that, HE MOST LIKELY ACTUALLY MEANT NEXT TO THE ISLAND! NOT SOMEWHERE IN THE EAST OF GUNKAN ISLAND, YOU IDIOTS!" I yelled, punching them silly.

"But Nami said that there was no Dragon's Nest on Gunkan Island," Usopp complained, rubbing the bump on his head.

"It might still be in the ocean. Just because it wasn't there, doesn't always mean that it's never there. Ryuuji said it himself, didn't he? 'It's about time for the island to rise.' Which means that we got too hasty and just left the island, assuming that it's somewhere else."

"And if you look at the map, it says that the Dragon's Nest is on Gunkan Island," Nami supported. "There's no way that the ancestors drew things for no reason?"

"The girls are right, you idiots!" Sanji agreed. "There's no way Nami-san and Xion-san could be wrong! This means that it's on the island! We'll know for sure once we get there!"

"Even if we do go back, it might still be in the sea," I reminded our chef. "There's no telling when the Dragon's Nest will rise."

After I said that, Apis ran to Ryuuji. "Ryuuji! Please remember, Ryuuji! Where's the Dragon's Nest?! We thought it would be here, but there's nothing here! Just these drawings! Ryuuji! Just look at the pictures! Can you remember anything?! We can't go on unless if you remember more about it! Hey! Please remember it, Ryuuji!"

After pleading the Sennenryuu, he looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember more about the location of the Dragon's Nest. As he tries to remember, some birds flew in. As they were flying, I noticed that Ryuuji's eyes widened. Guess he remembered more thanks to the birds' help.

"Okay, I guess the Dragon's Nest is on Gunkan Island after all," Luffy spoke up.

"Huh? How did you know, Luffy?" Apis asked.

"Just somehow."

"You're right. Ryuuji says he remembers now. To the east of the summit, in a place that looks like a battleship. That's where the Dragon's Nest is."

"So Xion was right," Nami said.

"I just had a hunch that it might be there," I admitted.

"Geez. We came all the way over here and look at what happens," Usopp sighed.

"Sorry," Apis muttered. "I knew it sunk there a long time ago and yet, I dragged you all here. I guess it was just a waste of time."

"Not really," I said, getting her attention. "If you didn't drag us here, I wouldn't find this new Dream Eater recipe. And since we're helping you find that nest, you just helped us find this new recipe. Thank you, Apis."

"Yeah. And beside, the Dragon's Nest might be in some unexpected place," Usopp added. "We won't know unless we're looking for it, right?"

"That's right," Nami agreed. "It's not like you have to be depressed over something like this, Apis."

"If you're too afraid of making mistakes, you won't be able to do anything," Sanji told her, smoking.

"The 'roundabout way of life' isn't bad," Zoro said.

"... Guys..." the little girl spoke in shock.

"Let's go!" Luffy shouted. "Ryuuji won't get any better if we sit around here, will he?"

"Yeah," Apis nodded. "Thank you."

When she thanked us, I heard footsteps and summoned Starlight. Apparently, so did Zoro, for he slightly unsheathed his sword.

"Is there something wrong, Zoro, Xion?" Nami asked.

"Someone's here," he told her.

"Their above us," I added.

As I said that, we all looked up at the hole and see two people there. Those two were none other than Erik and that guy in a black coat. "Many thanks for the explanation," Erik said. "Now I know where the Dragon's Nest is."

"You again?" Luffy asked, obviously not happy to see them.

"But it would be a waste if it's under the sea. So my partner and I will have to take that Sennenryuu with me."

"What he said," the guy agreed.

"No way!" Apis argued. "We don't exactly know if the Dragon's Nest is under the ocean!"

"One of them said something about having the ability of the Kama Kama no mi, while the other can control cards," Sanji warned. "Man why do we have to deal with weirdos like them?"

"Wait a second! They have devil fruit powers?!" Usopp summarized.

Zoro walked up to our opponents. "Luffy. Take Ryuuji and get back to the ship," he ordered our captain. "I'll catch up."

"Gotcha," he replied, smirking when he saw the swordsman's smirk.

"Hey, Xion," the guy in black waved. "I suggest you stay behind, too. There are some things I want to talk about and Lord Xemnas was worried sick about you."

"Like I know who he is," I muttered. "And there's no way I'm listening to someone like you!" I raised my voice. "And by the way, Luffy, there doesn't seem to be a way out. How are we going to get out?"

"We'll just... MAKE ONE!" he suggested, running to the opposite direction, headbutting a wall.

'_What did he plan to accomplish by doing that?_' I wondered.

Getting up, he said, "I was sure I could break it."

"Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi..." the rest of the crew sighed. And isn't one 'oi' enough.

The next thing you know was unexpected. Instead of the wall that Luffy headbutted into, the wall next to it collapsed.

"Hey, it opened!" Luffy exclaimed. "The result is all right."

"The guy's stronger than a caveman," Sanji muttered.

"I wouldn't say that if he didn't destroy the wall that he bumped into," I said, going onto Ryuuji's back.

"You won't escape!" Erik shouted, jumping down.

"You're not going anywhere, Xion!" the other guy followed, also jumping down.

As they landed, Zoro kept Erik occupied while I used Strike Raid on the guy in black, paralyzing him.

"Let's hurry on out of here!" I suggested.

As soon as I said that, Luffy grabbed the rope to Ryuuji's cart and ran through the wall he created, dragging us with him. When he did that, I was so surprised at how high we were, my face went as pale as a ghost. Luckily, we landed on a big, tree root and slid down it.

"Whoo! This is fast!" Luffy stated. I swear, if there's nothing, as crazy as this, that can wipe that smile off his face, WHAT KIND OF CAPTAIN DID I END UP FOLLOWING?!

"I-it's amazing how we always m-manage to be safe," I heard Usopp said from behind Ryuuji.

"We're not safe yet, you idiot!" Nami told him.

"Man, this is easy!" our simple-minded captain said.

"YOU FIND THIS EASY?!" I asked in a surprise tone.

"STOP!" we all heard someone shout. We looked behind us and saw that man following us. Just how persistent is he?!

"Leave us alone, already!" I yelled at him. "Are you in love with me or something?! And don't you dare answer that!" I summoned Wyvern and gave him an order. "Wyvern! Go to the back with Nami, Usopp and Sanji and boost our speed!" At that command, Wyvern landed and breathed out fire, giving us the speed that we need to get away from the guy in black. Not only that, the fire caused him to be off-balance and got him out of our sight.

"Woo-hoo! Now this is fast!" Luffy happily stated.

"Slow down! Slow down! Slow down!" the rest of the crew and Apis begged. Unfortunately, the Dream Eaters only takes command from their master. In other words, me.

Even if I want to command it to do so, I can't. Why? The speed we're going in was so fast, I can't speak that clearly at the moment. So, yeah. We're stuck with the speed that we're on at the moment.

"I ze fashesh alie righ now!(I'm the fastest alive right now!)" I heard Usopp shout.

"Ow iz zat zuoze to imrezz anyone?!(How is that suppose to impress anyone?!)" Sanji asked.

"Zion! Sto your raon!(Xion! Stop your dragon!)" Nami begged.

"I uld! Ut I ant!(I would! But I can't)" I replied. "I don tink it ill unterstan me en ere tis fas!(I don't think it will understand me when we're this fast!)"

"Ten Luie! Ou o sotin! Ell e in ieces eore e get to de shi!(Then Luffy! You do something! We'll be in pieces before we get to the ship)"

"It's okay! It's okay!" he assured. And HOW IS IT THAT HE CAN SPEAK CLEARLY?!

"OW IZ TIZ OAY?!(HOW IS THIS OKAY?!)" we all asked. When I saw what was ahead of us, I slightly panicked, for we are heading straight for a tunnel, that has a entrance that seems smaller than the cart with Ryuuji on it.

"Luie! U aea! Aea!(Luffy! Up ahead! Ahead!)" Apis warned.

"Oh, that's not good..." was all he can say?!

"DON US TAL AOU IT! DO SOTIN!(DON'T JUST TALK ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING!)" Apis and I yelled at him, as we went through the tunnel. When we got out, it just so happens that the entrance was bigger than I thought, for we got out in one piece.

As we continue to go down hill, we found ourselves another dead end, up ahead of us. And god, may I ask just WHAT STAR WAS I BORN UNDER?!

"Luie. Terez anozer ded end.(Luffy. There's another dead end.)" Apis told him.

"Hmm. Let's destroy it," he suggested.

"DON!(DON'T!)" Nami protested. "Dis iz ze sa cli zat e en rough eore! Destoy it, ell all o de edge an ere don or!(This is the same cliff that we went through before! Destroy it, we'll fall off the edge and we're done for!)"

"Can't we fly over it?"

"E ANT LIE!(WE CAN'T FLY!)" Apis reminded the world's number one idiot.

"I DO OU TINK ERE ON A AR?!(WHY DO YOU THINK WE'RE ON A CART?!)" I asked, as we crashed into the dead end, which stopped Wyvern from using it's fire attack. After that, we began to fall, or slide, backwards, crashing into something behind us, which caused us to slide forward and... well you get the point.

After all that back-and-forth sliding, we slid backwards and somehow got to the ship.

"I think we've arrived safely..." Nami whimpered.

"Really?" Usopp asked. "I wouldn't say that considering the luck we've had today."

When he said that, the cart crashed into a stone, causing it to stop and brought Nami, Usopp and Sanji into the water, since they were in the back. Apis and I, we slid down and off of Ryuuji's back. Wyvern got off the cart before we crashed into that stone. LUFFY, ON THE OTHER HAND, JUST CASUALLY GOT OFF! I swear, one of these days, I'll kill him!

"We're here!" he said. "Get prepared! Let's go!"

"I can't take it anymore," Nami said.

"Shithead," Sanji muttered.

"I am _so _going to kill him," Usopp said, his head in the water. Well, great minds think alike, they say.

"Wyvern," I called my Ryu Dragon, who flew to me. "Next time, don't use that much fire power unless it's necessary." I was satisfied with the screech of guilt that I heard from my Dream Eater.

"Luffy!" Apis called. "Zoro! They said that Zoro is in trouble! What are we going to do? We have to go and help him!"

Looking at where we left him, my captain stretched his arm over there and shouted, "ZOROOOOOO!" "Bingo!" he then said.

"Wow! Awesome!" Apis complimented, looking through binoculars to see that he got Zoro. Sanji and Nami were drying themselves up while Usopp and I prayed for Zoro's safety.

As Luffy pulled his arm back, I could've sworn I heard our swordsman shouted, "I BETTER NOT HIT THE SHIP!" If he did say that, unfortunately for him, he hit the ship. "One of these days, I am _definitely_ going to kill you..." he muttered.

With that, everyone's here and we sailed off to Gunkan Island. The storm is still annoying, but other than that, we made in out. I, not in the mood to see the sea, went into the girl's bedroom to rest in peace for a while. '_I'll create the new Dream Eater right now,_' I thought.

I got out the recipe and the ingredients needed for this creature. I did the usual routine and a Dream Eater was born from the ingredients. This new Dream Eater is like a bat. No wait, scratch that. It _is_ a bat. The body is about the size of my head. Its round, yellow, furry head has a pink diamond covering its face, with large, green, frilled ears that's fading into blue, small eyes, and two small, pink fangs. The bat's two small, purple, clawed feet hang from its body, while two large thin pink wings extend outward. On the wings are four yellow four-pointed stars with blue outlines, one of them larger than the others. The Dream Eater that was created was a Komory Bat.

"Hey, there," I greeted, holding my hand out to pet its head. Once I pet it, the bat was softly screeching in satisfaction. It made me wonder if this little guy likes to be pet. "I'll call you Fang," I decided, recieving a happy expression from the Komory Bat.

"Xion! Get out here!" Nami called.

I walked out of the room with Fang to see a Marine's ship in front of us. Unlike the previous ships, though, this ship has some designs on it.

"AWESOME! SO COOL! It looks like a floating gargoyle!" guess who stated.

"That's what you're thinking about?" I asked.

The next thing you know from that ship, a LOT others came from behind it!

"Hey, now! That's too many!" Sanji complained, cigarette in his mouth.

"These damn Marines, how many ships do they have?" Zoro asked. "Hey, Xion. Do you know?"

"It's true that I was friends with the Marines back on my island, but that doesn't mean I had them tell me everything about them," I explained, as the Marine ships surround us with chains connected to them.

"What will we do? We'll be captured by them!" Apis said.

"We'll board their ships, kick them off and cut the chains. It's the only way," Usopp suggested, smirking. And that's not a bad idea, coming from him. Is he really our Usopp?

"Wow! Can you really do something like that, Usopp?"

"... Go! Luffy! Zoro! Sanji! Xion!" That's our Usopp.

"I should've known..."

"Doesn't seem like a bad idea, though," Zoro said, prepared for battle.

"Are you serious?" Apis asked him. "No matter how many lives you have-"

She was then interrupted by Nami, who placed her hand on her shoulder. "It's all right, Apis," she assured her. "It'll work out somehow. But get the job done quickly, okay?"

"Leave it to us, Nami-san," Sanji said.

"This is a good time to test out this little guy's power," I said, taking off my necklace and pocketing it, which was around my neck the whole time. Fang perched on my shoulder with its wings cross, showing that it's ready to fight.

"All right! Let's go!" Luffy shouted. That was when those ships started to fire their cannons at us. "Woo-hoo! This feels great! All right! Let's go!"

'_You already said that__,_' I thought, sweatdropping a bit.


	16. The Keyblade Weilder vs the Gambler

As we sail to one of the Marine ships, we also managed to dodge the cannonballs, thanks to Nami's steering. Dodging these things weren't easy, especially since the Marines had us surrounded and the fact that the ship is also pulling on Ryuuji's cart, therefore trying not to get him hurt. As I was getting my Dream Eaters ready for battle, I heard a scream.

"Apis!" Usopp shouted. "It's dangerous out here! Get down below deck!"

"I can't leave Ryuuji alone!" she reasoned, going to the said dragon.

'_She's really dependable, isn't she?_' I thought. '_There's no way I'm going to let them have Ryuuji!_'

When we were hit from behind, Usopp started to freak out. They didn't even hit us. I'm starting to think that I joined a very, very strange crew.

"Knock it off!" Sanji shouted. "They missed us!"

"Really?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah."

"Oh. We're saved. Who the hell made a stupid lie like that?!" Wait, wasn't that him?

"You did," Zoro answered, causing our sharpshooter to flinch.

"It wasn't even a lie," I corrected. "You just assumed that we were hit."

"Looking good, looking good! Forward!" Luffy exclaimed, laughing.

'_How can he laugh at a time like this?_' I wondered.

When a cannonball was coming our way, Luffy just announced it. When you see a cannonball, you do not just announce it! Our ship can't move or sail any faster than this!

"This is the best I can do!" Nami yelled at him. "You do something about it!"

"Alright! Let's try this!" Luffy then said. Gee, what could he be thinking now? "**Gomu Gomu no Fuusen!**" As he said that, his body inflated and bounced the cannonball back to the ship it was fire from, destroying it.

"No way," Apis said in amazement.

Suddenly, I heard Fang screeching in fear. I turned to him to see what was wrong. He was pointing at something as he flew crazily around me. I turned to what he was pointing at and saw a huge cannon from the leader of the fleet's ship.

"What is that?!" Nami asked, as she ran out of the helm to see what was happening. "If we get hit by that, we'll be blown to smithereens!"

I thought of a way to somehow prevent them from firing that cannon. However, due to the distance between our ship and the ship with the huge cannon, Luffy won't be able to throw me over there.

"Don't worry," our carefree captain spoke up, interrupting my thoughts. "I'll just bounce it back."

"Don't be an idiot!" I yelled at him. "We have to change our course before he fires that thing! From the looks of it, the cannonball might be too big for you to launch. We have to get out of the way, pronto!" With that, Luffy and Zoro went to the sail.

Just as they turned it, I heard a cannon fire from our ship and saw a cannonball going straight for the enemy's leader's ship. The next thing you know, THE CANNON BLEW UP!

"Hahah! How do you like that?! This is what you get when Usopp-sama gets serious!" Usopp bragged.

"It was probably a fluke," Sanji said.

"Yeah, it was," Zoro agreed.

'_I thought he was this crew's sharpshooter,_' I thought, wondering why they would say such a thing about his aim.

"What?! I can do that any time! Just watch me!" Usopp argued.

"Usopp, that was cool!" Apis complimented, somehow having him to forget Sanji and Zoro's insults.

I looked at the other Marine ships and noticed that they aren't firing any of their cannonballs at us, yet. I went to the back where the others are to see if they have a plan of some sort.

"What are we going to do from here, captain?" I asked Luffy. "Should we get on their ships, beat them all up and cut the chains as Usopp suggested?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

Smirking, I summoned Wyvern. "Then let's get over there. I'll have Fang fly me. Zoro and Sanji, you two take Wyvern. Luffy, I think you know how to get over there on your own." With that idea, they agreed on it.

"**Gomu Gomu no Rocket!**" Luffy shouted, firing himself at the nearest Marine ship. Fang grabbed onto me and took me to the said ship. For a little guy, he's got enough strength to carry a teenager. As for Zoro and Sanji, they were arguing about how to get over there with Wyvern. The said Dream Eater, having enough of their arguing, suddenly got Zoro on his back and grabbed onto Sanji and flew over to the ship.

"Well, that could work too," Sanji said.

"Why didn't we think of this earlier?" Zoro wondered.

Once all of us got on the ship, there weren't any Marines on deck. We went to the chains and had Zoro observe them.

"Steel chains," he identified.

"Can you cut them?" Luffy asked.

"There's nothing I can't cut." Just as he said that, all the Marines on this ship ran to the deck.

"Looks like they're all here," Sanji observed.

"I feel like taking the right half," Luffy said.

"It doesn't matter, as long as we fight them all," I said.

"I'll leave the chores to you guys," Zoro said.

"Got it," the two guys responded.

"Wyvern, Fang, give Zoro some back up in case any Marines try to attack him," I ordered the two Dream Eaters, who nodded in agreement.

"For upsetting Admiral Nelson," one of the Marines spoke, "we will not let you break through here!" With that, they all charged at us. Unfortunately for them, we're way too strong for them to handle. They can attack us all they want, but they will never kill us like this. Suddenly, as we were fighting and as Zoro was cutting down the chains, more Marines from other ships ran over to this ship. Thanks to Wyvern and Fang, though, most of them lost their balance and fell off.

When we got to the last chain, thanks to Zoro's ability to cut steel, the Going Merry sailed toward the soon-to-be escape route. However, before they got close to it, something attacked them. Luckily, that something didn't hit the ship. I then saw something moving at the ocean. What I saw was none other than Erik and three Marine soldiers on a rowboat, rowing to Merry. No, not to Merry. To Ryuuji.

"What's up, guys?" Luffy asked.

"It's him again," Sanji told him.

"Huh? What's he doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?!" I asked. "He's going to take Ryuuji and hold Apis hostage!"

"That's bad!" Luffy said, attempting to get off the Marine ship. Before he could, Zoro stopped him. I had Wyvern take me to Going Merry, as I returned Fang into his card.

* * *

_***GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

"Stop! If you try to punch him, he'll use his powers and hurt Apis and the others!" Zoro reasoned.

"I see. I got it," Luffy said, placing a foot on the railing. "Then I'll kick him!"

"WILL YOU PAY ATTENTION?!" the swordsman asked, punching him in the head.

"Hey, where's Xion-san?" Sanji asked. The three guys looked around to see where she is.

"Over there," Luffy said, spotting and pointing at her. Zoro and Sanji looked at the direction he was pointing and saw the girl riding her dragon to the ship.

"Is she asking to get them killed?!" Zoro asked,

"Xion-swan! Why would you leave me with the idiots?!" Sanji asked, crying.

* * *

_***XION'S P.O.V***_

Wyvern flew me to the rowboat as fast as he could. As he flew, Erik and the others rowed away with Apis on their boat and Ryuuji's cart connected to it.

"Hurry, Wyvern!" I persuaded the Ryu Dragon, recieving a screech from it. The next thing you know, all the Marine ships, well most of them, fired their cannons at the rowboat. I didn't know why, nor did I hear the reason for it. But that wasn't going to stop me from saving Apis and Ryuuji.

As we continued our way to the rowboat, I saw Apis being held by Erik. Seeing this, I threw my Keyblade at him, forcing him to let go. Luckily, Apis didn't fall into the ocean.

"Leave them alone!" I shouted, jumping off of Wyvern! As I landed on Ryuuji's cart, I charged towards Erik, resummoning Starlight and Aerial Slammed him.

"Are you okay, Apis?" I asked the girl.

"Yes," she replied.

"But you won't!" came a familiar voice. I turned to the voice and saw that man in a black coat, running towards me, using his cards to make solid footing.

"What's up with you?!" I asked him, teeth being razor-sharp. "You're so damn annoying!"

"You're not escaping again, Xion!" he said. "Now, I _will_ bring you back to the organization, even if it means fighting you!"

That said, he used his cards and somehow transported me over to him. After that, he put up a force field of some sort, and some more cards for more solid footing. I saw my crewmates and Apis saying something, but I can't seem to hear them.

"What did you do?!" I asked the man before me.

He took off his hood and revealed himself to be somewhat old. He has short blonde hair, blue eyes and a short beard and mustache. He also has piercings on his ears. "I will beat you in this game, Xion."

"Game?"

"Don't you remember? I always think of my battles as games. And now we will see who will win in this game."

"Don't screw with me!" I yelled. "I don't have time for any 'games'. I'll take you down!"

"You really don't remember me, don't you?" he sighed. "I am Luxord, partner. We used to do missions together. Well, sometimes. And now, since you've become even more persistent than last time, I have no choice but to defeat you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'd rather die than to join someone like you."

"Lord Xemnas won't be happy to hear that. Ever since Roxas left, Lord Xemnas sensed your power here in this world. He then made a pact with the Marines, so we would have a better chance in finding you. But for some reason, none of us could remember your face, until today.

"Only the members of the organization wears these cloaks. It's impossible to find someone that wears this cloak in this world. So it's obvious that you're one of us. A Nobody." When he said that, I think my eyes widen in shock. Despite that, I didn't want to believe in his words.

"Now come Xion. Let's go back home," he then said, holding out his hand.

"... If this 'game' of yours is to have you persuade me to lose, then think again! I already told you, I'd rather die than join this 'organization' of yours," I told him.

"Then it seems that it has to be the hard way after all," Luxord growled.

"It's been the hard way," I corrected, as Wyvern transported itself next to me. It didn't surprise me, since I already knew that Dream Eaters can teleport themselves to their master's side thanks to the guidebook.

"Oh? I didn't plan a two-on-one. But then again, I don't see the difference in this, for the winner will be me!" With that, he took out a couple of cards and got into his battle position.

Wyvern went ahead of me and tried to burn Luxord. Unfortunately, he used one of his cards and absorbed the flame, only to send it over to me. I managed to block it somehow, therefore prevented myself from being burned alive. Even though my cloak is resisted to fire, the resistant is not that strong. Back to the battle, Wyvern and I tried to land a hit on this guy. But they were either blocked or absorbed and being sent back to us.

'_He's too strong,_' I mentally admitted. '_How can Wyvern and I beat this guy? It's like he can predict where our attacks will be coming from._' The moment I thought that, I had an idea. When Wyvern went back to my side, I told him Plan A.

Once Plan A was shared, Wyvern nodded his head in agreement to it. That said, we charged at Luxord again. I saw him pulling out his card to try to block our incoming attack, but that was just what I was hoping for. Since the cards he used to block our strikes or absorbed our magic or flames are as big as he is, there's very low possibility in him being able to see us. That explained, I jumped onto Wyvern as he flew over the card and Luxord. The moment we were over his card, though, I jumped off and finally landed a hit on him.

"You cheater!" he yelled.

"Cheater? What are you talking about? In a fight, anything goes," I questioned and told him. "Ah, yes. You should also know by now that you shouldn't be distracted in a life-and-death battle." As soon as I said that, Wyvern burned him with his fire breathe.

"I... won't lose!" Luxord yelled. As he did, I saw a faint blue aura surrounding him, which slowly got brighter. "**Limit Break,**" I heard him mutter. "**Jackpot!**" As soon as he said that, a card with a cross symbol appeared. The bad news: it exploded. The good news: Wyvern and I didn't get caught in it.

'_Is he planning on committing suicide?_' I wonder. The second the smoke lifted, another card appeared, this time with a flashing symbol. Unlike the one with the cross, though, some energy balls appeared and exploded on me! I considered myself lucky that it wasn't like a bomb. Despite that luck, it still hurts.

"How do you like that?" Luxord asked. "It hurts, doesn't it? That energy blast. Let's say that it's punishment for leaving the organization. And there's still a lot more where that comes from, Xion."

"Heh. Big deal," I huffed. "I have some tricks up my sleeve as well." I glanced at Wyvern, who returned to my side in concern. "If Plan A doesn't work, then it's time for Plan Link." That said, Wyvern and I got into our battle positions and began our link. "**Link Action: Decussation!**" At that, Wyvern and I unleashed a series of fast and powerful strikes.

Luxord had a hard time following us, since we were attacking at random places. After that attack was finish, Luxord was on one of his knees. "This is the end, Luxord," I said, going to end him. Before I get the chance, something hit near us. I turned and saw the ships firing cannonballs at Ryuuji, who was... flying?! He can fly?! I thought he didn't have enough strength to fly!

"Who was the one who said that you can't get distracted in a life-and-death battle?" Luxord asked me. I turned just in time to see him attack me with his cards. "**Limit Break: Jackpot!**" At point-blank, he summoned the cross symbol card and it exploded on us. Before I could recover, he summoned the flashing card and summoned those energy balls. Tightening my grip on Starlight, I charged at Luxord to go for the kill. I may not want to kill people, but that's because they are innocent. And he's not innocent. A second before I could hit him, Luxord summoned two cards, one flashing and the other with a red symbol. Those energy balls appeared again and exploded. Unlike the previous ones, those impacts were a little more powerful.

I coughed up blood as I got out. Wyvern came to my aid to check on me. All of a sudden, he seemed frustrated and charged at Luxord, only to get blown back by those energy balls. "Wyvern!" I called, running to my partner. "Are you alright?!" Wyvern weakly nodded his head at me.

"You didn't see that coming, did you?" Luxord asked me. "You thought I showed you everything I had, didn't you? I'm not that stupid. Reckless, but not stupid, Xion."

"... On the other side of the force field you put up, we can't hear anyone from the other side. Why is that?" I asked him.

"It's a little project that Vexen and Zexion made. So if any of us were to fight you or Roxas to bring you back into the organization, no one would interfere. Meaning that they can't see or hear us, so we can fight in peace. And if they get any closer to this force field, let's say that it's going to be a shocking experience for them," he explained.

"... I see. That's good to know. There's one thing that I don't want them to see yet. I haven't mastered this technique, for it always wears me and the Dream Eater of my choice out. I don't want Luffy to know that he recruited a weakling in his crew, after all." While speaking, I placed a hand on Wyvern's head. "After I finish him, you'll rest as long as you like, Wyvern," I told my Dream Eater, who realized what my plan is. Slowly, Wyvern glew red. "Get ready, Luxord. You're in for a world of hurt. **Link Style: Fire Raid.**" When I said those four words, Wyvern disappeared and my Keyblade was imbue in flames.

Once the link was complete, I hurled it at Luxord, who was distracted by his amazement for this link. "And here I thought you learned your lesson," I said, catching my Keyblade before hurling it at him again.

"Shut up!" he shouted at me, charging for an attack. Unluckily for him, I somehow summoned more Keyblades and threw them around me like a barrier. Due to this, he got hit and burned. After the barrier and the copies died down, I hurled Starlight, or Flare Starlight, at him again. I wasn't going to let him recover to try to block my attacks or send them back at me.

"This is the end, Luxord," I told him, after giving him several more blows. Once I threw my Keyblade at him, copies of it emerged from the flames, all hitting their mark. After the battle was over, I delinked and returned Wyvern back into his card. Luxord was on his knees, breathing heavily.

"How could you... Xion?" he asked, fading away. When he's completely gone, the force field broke down and I was able to hear everything else. Not only that, the cards disappeared, causing me to fall into the sea. Thankfully, I know how to swim. Once I resuffaced, I saw Ryuuji in the water as well, Luffy on him.

'_What happened while I was fighting Luxord?_' I thought in concern.

"RYUUJIII!" Apis screamed, crying.

* * *

**A/N: And that's all for this chapter. I know there are some thing I said about Luxord's cards that aren't true, but this is fanfiction and there _are_ some things I wanted to add in those cards of his to make the battle more interesting. Well then, until next time, readers. :3**


	17. Risen at Last

I swam as fast as I could to Ryuuji and Luffy. I kept wondering what happened to the Sennenryuu while Wyvern and I was fighting Luxord. He was fine at first, wasn't he? And now that he's in the water, he's useless. Unless if he's a water dragon, Ryuuji can't swim.

"Hey!" I called to my captain. "What happened?!"

"Xion! Where were you?!" he asked me.

"Not important right now! What happened to Ryuuji?!"

"Those guys shot their cannons at him."

"No way. And we're so close to the Dragon's Nest."

From the corner of my eye, I noticed the Marines preparing two harpoons from their leader's ship. They shot the harpoons at Ryuuji and were close to getting it, if it weren't for me and Luffy, who grabbed it while I sent the other into the ocean with Starlight.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked.

"You little twerp," the boss spoke. I believe Marines at his level are called Admirals or something, now that I think about it. "You don't even know what the two of you are standing on. The only thing I want from that Sennenryuu is its bones. Once I obtained the Ryuukotsu, I'll get eternal youth."

Hearing those selfish words from his mouth, I snapped. I tightly gripped my Keyblade and got ready to throw it at the ship at full power.

"YOU BASTARD!" Luffy and I shouted, throwing a harpoon or, in my case, a Keyblade at them.

"**STRIKE RAID!**" I yelled, as I threw my weapon.

The harpoon Luffy threw and my Keyblade both got to the ship and nearly killed someone. And by someone, I mean that fat-ass Admiral.

"Ryuuji is not an object!" my captain told them, as I recalled Starlight. "He's our friend! We've sailed together! He's an important friend to us!"

"That's right!" I supported. "You mess with him, you mess with all of us!"

"You poppycocks!" the Admiral snapped. "If those are your answers, then sink into the sea with your 'friend'! Kill those brats with the Sennenryuu!"

"But, if we do that-!" one of the Marines on the Admiral's ship was about to reason.

"So what? Even if the bones are shattered, I can still collect them." This guy is heartless! "Now call on those weird creatures to help us out!" Wait, weird creatures?

"Aye! Aim all cannon at the ocean surface! And bring out those Heartless!"

'_Heartless?!_' I mentally repeated. As the cannons were aimed at Ryuuji, Luffy and I, two groups of Heartless close in on us. One of the groups has a smooth-like, conical body that is blue with a thick horizontal, sky blue stripe along the midsection. The Heartless Emblem is on its chest. The hat this Heartless wears is somewhat similar to a wizard's, sky blue, and has a curly tip. The other group of Heartless are in the water and are based on jellyfish. They got bluish-green tentacles beneath them and two pale blue tentacles in front.

'_**Be careful, Xion,**_' Voice warned me, nearly surprising me. '**_The ones in the air are the Turquoise Marches and the ones in the sea are the Sheltering Zones. You must avoid getting hit by the Turquoise Marches' energy spheres or you'll recieve damage that you give it. As for the Sheltering Zones, don't beat them with weapons, or they will divide themselves when defeated._**'

'_Right, thanks for the warning,_' I thanked it.

"This is far enough?" I heard Luffy asked. I turned to see him having a short conversation with Ryuuji. "Don't be so fickle! We haven't accomplished our goal yet! We're going to the Dragon's Nest, aren't we? Forget about the 'giving up' crap!"

"He's right, you know," I said. "You don't need to worry about Apis right now. Nami and Usopp can protect her. At this time, worry about yourself." Just then, the ocean started to shake. Under the water, other than the Sheltering Zones beginning to disappear because of the tremors, I started to see land rising up.

"Ryuuji?" Luffy spoke, listening to Ryuuji's words again. "Really? You mean it?!"

"What?" I asked. "What did he say?"

Before he could answer, the cannons started to fire and the Turquoise Marches shot out energy balls. Some of those balls missed us. As for the others, I deflected them back with my Keyblade. As I did that, Ryuuji lift his head up and roared.

"I get it!" my captain spoke again. "You have important nakama(circle of friends, associates) of your own!"

After Ryuuji finished his roar, I heard another roar from somewhere else. Facing the source, I was surprised to see a lot, A WHOLE LOT, of Sennenryuus coming our way. Some of them were attacking the Admiral's ship and the Turquoise Marches, destroying the said Heartless.

"D-did Ryuuji call them from all over the world?!" I asked Luffy.

"Yep!" he happily answered. Ryuuji gave another roar before collapsing in the water. "Ryuuji!"

"Now what happened?!"

"... I gotcha. I'll tell Apis for you."

By the look of that smile, I can tell that Ryuuji said something good before he died. I would like to ask Ryuuji what he said. But it's a message for Apis and I should not listen to it.

"**Gomu Gomu no Rocket!**" Luffy shouted, shooting himself up when he grabbed hold of the highest Sennenryuu's neck. The next thing you know, he swung his rubber leg down at the Admiral's ship while shouting, "**ONO!**" Once the leg made contact with the ship, it destroyed it! Just what, exactly, is Luffy's body made of?! There is no way, in hell, that something made of rubber can do that much damage, can it?!

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" a soldier asked, as Luffy landed on what's left of the ship. "HE KILLED AN ADMIRAL!"

As soon as he was within all the Marines' sight, Luffy looked up and glared at them. That glare was enough to scare them and have them retreat.

"Luffy, that was dangerous!" I scolded him, as I summoned Fang to carry me to his side. "You could've sunk! You could've hit one of the Sennenryuus!"

"But I didn't," he responded.

"Urgh! You know what I mean." I tilted my head up, noticed the Sennenryuus circling for some reason. It made me wonder if it was because of Ryuuji's death. Hearing some crashing sounds, I tilted my head back down to see the Marine ships crashing into each other because of the chains. How can they be so scared to forget that they were all connected by chains that they used to trap us. After seeing that, one of Luffy's arm wrapped around my waist.

"Hey, Luffy. You wouldn't dare," I spoke, hoping that he isn't doing what I think he's doing.

My hope shattered, as he stretched his other arm to the back of a random Sennenryuu's neck. Before he did anything, I quickly returned Fang into his card.

"**Gomu Gomu no Rocket!**" he yelled, firing us up in the air. "This is really fun," I heard him say then.

"I BETTER NOT HIT THE SHIIIIP!" I screamed, as we fall to our destination. We managed to get on the ship. Luffy on his feet, somehow. And me on my head, which got stuck in the ship's mast.

"Yo!" I heard Luffy greeted, as I tried to get my head out of the mast for some air.

"No 'Yo's!'" Nami yelled at him. "Be a little gentler when you land! You're going ot break the ship!"

"Hey! Guys! Help me here!" I yelled, losing air fast.

* * *

_***GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

As Nami scold Luffy for his landing, the Straw Hat Pirates heard some muffling sound. They truned to the sound and saw Xion, trying to pull her head out of the mast.

"Ah! Xion! Why is your head stuck in the mast?" Luffy asked.

Xion heard his question loud and clear and grabbed Luffy's head, slamming it into the mast at full strength. "You're the one who got me in this situation!" came her voice. "Now hurry up and get me out of it! I'm losing some air in here!"

All the Straw Hat Pirates, except Luffy, who got his head stuck in the mast now, helped Xion get her head out while she's still alive. At the same time when Xion got her head out with their help, Luffy got his head out as well.

"What was that for, Xion?!" he angrily asked. His anger changed into relief when he saw that her head is out. "Oh! You got your head out of the mast. That's great!"

"I'LL TIE YOUR NECK INTO A KNOT SO YOU WON'T BREATHE AGAIN!" she yelled, not forgiving her captain for that landing, even if it was an accident. She was being held back by Usopp and Nami, so she wouldn't really kill her own captain, who's scared of the raven-haired girl.

"Ryuuji!" Apis's crying voice came, changing the situation. Everyone on the ship started to feel sorry for the poor girl, both for losing her friend and for not being able to help her complete her promise.

The sad atmosphere ended when the tremors came again.

"An earthquake?" Sanji thought out loud.

"Again?" Nami asked.

* * *

_***XION'S P.O.V***_

'_Now what's happening?_' I wondered. '_There's no way that this is an earthquake. What's going on?_' As I wondered what was happening, some kind of shockwave came, making the shaking even worse than it is now. The next thing you know, water shot out of the ocean, only to reveal to be rocks. Looking below us, the land from earlier continued to rise.

"So that's what it means!" Nami shouted.

"What's wrong, Nami-san?" Sanji asked.

"It's just like the fresco and Xion said, the Dragon's Nest is here!" she said. "And the name Sennenryuu doesn't refer to their life-span! It means they come to this island once every thousand years!" She continue to explain as the island continue to rise. "The Sennenryuu are migratory! The flock didn't just appear here by chance! 'Lost Island' is a perfect name for it. It only surface every one thousand years! It's impossible that any living human would remember it resurfacing! Right now, at this critical moment, THe Dragon's Nest is going to appear!"

* * *

A few minutes later, the shaking stop and the Dragon's Nest resurfaced. The crew, Apis and I stared at the scenery in awe. It's like seeing an island in the ocean or something.

"Could this be...?" Apis spoke, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. This is the Dragon's Nest that Ryuuji wanted ot return to," Luffy answered. "Xion! Nice job!" he then complimented, confusing me. "You were the one who understood what Ryuuji meant. From now on, you're first mate!"

"F-first mate?!" I repeated in shock. "But Luffy! That spot is for the first person who joined your crew! I can't just take that spot!"

"Then you're our sub-first mate!"

"Wouldn't that be for the second person who joined!?"

"Then you're our Quartermaster."

"Do you even know what their jobs are?"

"Then our Chronicler?"

"I need a log book for that job."

"Then our-"

"Oi! Oi, Apis!" Sanji called, interrupting the conversation.

"Apis!" Usopp called as well. "What'd she took off like that for?"

"It's Ryuuji," Luffy told him.

"It's true! I see him over there!" I added to his point.

"It seems like a coincidence," Nami spoke. "The place Ryuuji ended up in is the Dragon's Nest. I wonder if that means that he can sleep in peace."

"It's fine," Luffy said. "Before he sank, he said that his wish came true."

"So this is the Dragon's Nest," Usopp spoke, changing the subject. "It sure is filled with weird rocks."

"I bet these are Ryuukotsu," Sanji said, confusing our long-nose friend. "Look at this rock here. It looks like a dragon, doesn't it?"

"Now that you mentioned it, why are these rocks shaped like dragons?"

"Because during those thousand years, they were under the ocean," Nami explained. "Their bodies became calcified."

"Then that would mean that the Ryuukotsu that the Marines were looking for is actually the Lost Island," I summarized. "So that would also mean that it's like a dead elephant and the Elephant's Geaveyard. This place here is also the Dragon's Graveyard."

"No! No it's not!" Apis argued. "Ryuuji told me that if he gets here, he'll get better! This place can't be a graveyard!"

"Apis..." Nami spoke out of pity.

"Ryuuji was a lost Sennenryuu," Luffy told the girl. "For a thousand years, he was alone. But then, he became friends with you, Apis. Out of the thousand years, it was the time he spent with you that he treasured most of all."

"Luffy. You understand dragons?" Nami asked.

"Kind of."

"Cut it out already," Usopp told the straw hat boy.

"But I'm sure that's what he said!"

"...Liar..." Apis muttered, loud enough for us to hear. "Ryuuji you liar... This is the Dragon's Nest. If we found the Dragon's Nest, then open your eyes! Talk to me! Get better again!"

Seeing her that sad and desperate, it breaks my heart. It's strange though. Ryuuji wouldn't lie to Apis this long about the result for finding the Dragon's Nest. If what Luffy said was true, he wouldn't lie to Apis about what happens when they find the Dragon's Nest. If it's because he doesn't want her to feel sad with the result, than I would understand that.

"Ryuuji wasn't lying," Luffy corrected. "He said Sennenryuu have to return to the Dragon's Nest every one thousand years to be reborn. Look over there!" He pointed at an egg. The egg was starting to hatch. And out of it, was a baby Sennenryuu. A few of the Sennenryuus came to its side, nudging it. The baby woke up and screeched. Apis seemed surprised when it did. My guess: Luffy was right; the baby Sennenryuu is Ryuuji.

"So you see, Apis?" Nami asked, as the little girl walked towards us. "This place isn't just a Dragon's Graveyard. It's also a place that connects them to a new life."

"Thank you everyone," Apis thanked, still walking towards us. "When Ryuuji said, 'Return me to the Dragon's Nest', I think I understood what this place is like. And why Ryuuji wanted to return so badly."

"Apis..."

"I also understand why my ancestors built that temple. Thank you, Luffy. Now let's go back to the village. I bet everyone are scared out of their wits!"

"Okay! Let's grab our ship and get off this island!" Luffy agreed. "Ooh, man I'm hungry. Sanji, make us something good!"

"Sure," he replied.

"With meat! Meat, meat!"

"I'll have vegetables and a big pile of bean sprouts!" Usopp ordered.

"Like I haven't heard that before," our chef said.

"But you know, this place sure is something," I said. "To think that there's a lot of Sennenryuus. As for the Ryuukotsu..."

"Seems like those guys were chasing after some fairy tale."

"So that whole 'elixir of eternal youth' thing...?" Usopp spoke up.

"It was a dream in a dream," Nami simply said.

"That's true. With everything covered in coral like this, it's impossible to make an elixir," I supported.

"Can't argue with that," the sharpshooter said.

"Those Marines just wasted their time," Zoro said.

As we were walking to our ship, we heard a scream. All of us turned to the source of it and saw Erik. The guy's just as persistent and as stubborn as Luxord, isn't he? Well, either way, until we beat this guy, we can't sit back and relax.

* * *

**A/N: And this chapter is done. Now then, a request from me to you readers. What do you suggest Xion's position in the Straw Hat Pirates should be? Can't wait for the result guys. Until Friday, One Piece and Kingdom Hearts fans! ^_^**


	18. Onward to Grand Line

The crew, Apis and I were about to get back to the ship when we heard a scream. When we turned to the source, we saw Erik.

"Man, you're still here?" Luffy asked.

"Indeed," he said. "Any longer and I would've drown. Behold! This beautiful radiance... Isn't it wonderful?"

"Yeah. We know. What's your point?" I asked.

"This is the source of the elixir of eternal youth, the Ryuukotsu."

"But with the Sennenryuu calcified like this, there's no way to make an elixir," Nami told him.

"So it seems," Erik agreed. "But you're forgetting the bountiful living Ryuukotsu sitting right before us. How about this? I'm tired of this meaningless fighting. Why don't we share this fortune?"

Is he crazy? I highly doubt that there's such thing as eternal life, anyway. I don't know where these guys heard these things, but they are nothing more than rumors.

"No," Luffy replied at his offer. And now my respect for him grew, by a little.

"Don't you want eternal life?" Erik asked us.

"Not interested."

"LIAR! There is no man who doesn't fear death! And for you and I who have eaten Devil Fruit, only a thin line seperates us from this world and hell! There's no way you can't fear death!"

"Heh. That's what you think," Zoro said. "If this guy's done what he set out to do, he'll die with a smile on his face."

"Besides, he's well prepared for death," I added.

"I see. Very well then! You can all stand back while I collect Ryuukotsu for myself," Erik told us.

"NO!" Apis disagreed.

"Stay put, you brat!" Erik yelled, using his devil fruit powers on her. Usopp managed to save her from being cut.

"Don't be reckless," Usopp told her.

"Even if it's reckless, I have to protect them!" Apis said. "This is the sacred place for the Sennenryuu! I will protect this place... FOREVER!"

'_Well said,_' I thought.

"You still intend to stop me?" Erik asked. "Then you shall all die here! **Kama Kama no Tsumujikaze!**"

The moment he used that attack, Luffy and I jumped in front of them and took the hit for them. And man, it really hurts! Getting back on our feet, Luffy and I glared at Erik.

"He's mine," Luffy said.

"But Luffy-"

"I made a promise," Luffy cut Nami off.

"Wait Luffy," I spoke, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Mind if I fight with you? He almost killed Apis. And I won't forgive him for that."

"... Sure." With that reply, we both went in to attack Erik.

"**Kama Kama no... Tsumujikaze!**"

"**Gomu Gomu no... Pistol!**"

"**Sliding Dash!**"

The three of us attacked each other with long-range attacks. Even though Erik's attack gave Luffy and me several cuts, we kept going until our moves hit him. Before they hit, however, Erik jumped out of the way, making us hit a boulder instead.

"Is that all you two have?" he asked us. "And now, the ultimate Kamaitachi technique. No matter where you run or hide, you cannot escape. I wonder how you can handle it."

'_At this rate, Luffy and I will die if we don't do something about his devil fruit power,_' I thought.

"**Kama Kama no... Kamaitachi Midareuchi!**" At that attack, everything in Erik's way got cut to smitherines. Despite that, Luffy and I charged in.

"Neither of us are going to run or hide!" we said.

"Fools! I'll cut you to pieces!"

"Luffy! I'll be your shield!" I told my captain.

"Okay! Go for it!" he responded.

I tightly gripped my Keyblade and got myself prepared to use the strongest magic spell for defense. "**Reflectga!**" I yelled, putting up a big shield in front of me and Luffy. Erik's attack hit the shield, but it didn't cut it down.

"What?!" he gasped in shock.

"Go! Luffy!" I shouted.

"Leave it to me!" he said. "**Gomu Gomu no... Kane!**" he yelled, grapping onto Erik before giving him a hard headbutt. "And **Bazooka!**" my captain added, blowing him away. "We won!"

"We did it!" Apis cheered.

* * *

Minutes later, after I healed Luffy, when we got to Apis's village, we brought everyone to the best view to look at the Sennenryuus. They were all surprised when they saw them.

"It won't be long until this place has to sink again," I said.

"When that happens, the Sennenryuus have to leave again, huh?" Usopp guessed.

"That baby Sennenryuu will have to go somewhere, too, I guess..." Apis muttered in a sad tone.

"But isn't that good?" I asked her. "At least this time, he won't be alone. After what you did for him, he doesn't have to feel lonely, right?"

Smiling, Apis nodded in agreement.

"So, would everyone care to come over and have some of my famous butaman?" Bokuden asked.

"We love to, but we have to pass," Nami hastily said. "We're in a bit of a hurry, you see."

"We are?" Luffy asked. "I wanted to try-" He got cut off by Nami's punch in the head. And I thought being a rubberman won't hurt him, but Nami's punch made it look like it will kill a normal person.

"Thanks for the offer, but we have to go," Sanji politely said.

"Well, that's unfortunate. It will take three days to prepare," Bokuden said.

"Didn't you say it'll take four to five hours the other day?" I asked.

"Well, in the meantime, I'll tell you the story of the Lost Island's royal family-"

"We've already heard of that story," Nami told him.

* * *

Several minutes later, we all went back to the ship and got ready to set sail to the Grand Line.

"Apis, you wanna come?" Luffy asked.

"I had so much fun being with you guys, I love to come. But I'm going to stay here on the island," she said. "I want to learn more about our customs from Grandpa Bokuden. And just as our ancestors protected the Sennenryuu, I will protect the Dragon's Nest. I will wait for the day when the baby dragons will return to the island."

"Wait a minute..." Usopp spoke up. "The next time they'll come back... Won't that be in anouther thousand years?"

"Don't say stuff to ruin her dream," Sanji scolded.

"Come on guys, Apis knows she won't live that long to see them. Right?" I asked the girl.

"I might not be able to see them, but my children, or their children will," Apis corrected the boys. "And we'll protect this island forever!"

"You're talking crazy," the sniper said.

"Don't _we_ do crazy things everyday?" I questioned him. "And all because of a certain someone."

"Really? Who?" Luffy asked, causing our jaws to drop. Just _how_ simple-minded _is_ this boy?! I can barely believe that he's a year older than me!

Letting that slide, we unfurl the sails and sailed off the island to the Grand Line.

"See ya, Apis!"

"Apis! Don't forget me! The brave warrior of the sea, Usopp-sama!"

"Bye-bye!"

"Until we meet again, Apis!"

"Bye-bye! Everyone! Take care!" she waved at us.

"You too, Apis! Take care!"

After our good-bye's, we all just stood at the back of the ship and watch as the island grew smaller in our view.

"Do you really think Apis will be okay?" Usopp wondered.

"Apis will be fine," Nami said. "She may be small, but she's full of spirit and courage. It'll be fine."

"You're right, Nami-san," Sanji agreed.

"It's okay," Luffy said. "Apis is our friend, right?"

"Damn straight," Zoro agreed.

"Well then, shall we move onto the Grand Line?" I asked.

"Yeah," they all agree.

* * *

A few hours later, we were on a lookout from various spots on the ship. What are we on lookout for? The entrance to the Grand Line of course.

"Nami-san! A report of love!" guess who shouted from the crow's nest. "There are some massive rain clouds ahead of us. And there's a storm below them."

'_Back to our old route, huh?_' I thought. '_Now that I think about it, how do we get to the Grand Line if we can't cross the Calm Belt?_'

"We're finally getting to the Grand Line!" I heard Luffy said from the crow's nest. And I can tell that he's happy, due to the fact that he's constantly patting Sanji's back, annoying him, and then to Zoro, when Sanji kicked our captain away from him.

"STOP THAT!" Zoro yelled at our captain.

A few minutes later, we all went to the meeting room, talking about how to get across the Red Line to get to the Grand Line.

"Look at this," Nami ordered us, placing the map on the table. "I heard rumors about it, but it's written in the map, too. If they're true, then the entrance to the Grand Line is a mountain."

"A mountain?" Luffy repeated, holding a glass in his mouth.

"You mean we have to crash through it?" Zoro asked.

"What the hell...?" Sanji sighed.

"I thought it was crazy, too. But there are canals drawn along the mountainside. That means we have to climb it," Nami explained.

"That sounds like fun," Luffy said.

"What are you talking about?" Zoro asked. "Even if there is a canal, it's impossible for a ship to climb a mountain."

"But that's what it says here," Nami reasoned.

"Of course! There's no way Nami-san can be mistaken!" Sanji supported.

I turned to the grunting moise that I've been hearing and saw Usopp struggling to move the helm. Curious to know why he's struggling, I walked over to him and helped him move it.

"Need any help?" I asked.

"Oh? Thank you, Xion," the sniper thanked. At that, the both of us tried to move the helm. But for some reason, no matter how hard we pull or push it, the thing won't budge.

"Nami! Emergency!" I shouted, getting everyone's attention. "The helm! It won't budge!"

"That's ridiculous," she said. "Sanji-kun, help them."

"Yes, Nami-san~" Oh, Nami. Why does it have to be loverboy? "Here we go." Sanji tried to move the helm with our support. Unfortunately, it still won't move.

"T-the current's flowing too fast!" Usopp exclaimed.

"Usopp, say that again," Nami told him, probably making sure that she heard right.

"I said the current's flowing too fast!"

"The current... I got it!"

"Got what?" Luffy asked.

"We really _do_ have to climb the mountain."

"You're still talking about that?" Zoro asked.

"Look here," she instructed Zoro and Luffy. "Listen. There's no doubt the 'guiding light' was pointing here. Here on the Red Line, Reverse Mountain."

"Oi! What are we suppose to do here?!" Usopp and I asked, as Sanji went over to their side to listen to their conversation.

"See the canal here?" Nami asked ignoring us. "If a strong current from each of the four oceans flow towards this mountain, the four currents would climb the mountain, meet at the top, and flow straight down into the Grand Line. Since Reverse Mountain is a Winter Island, the currents that collide with the Red Line travels down toward the ocean floor. If we can't make it to the canal, the Going Merry will slam straight into the Red Line and the ship will be destroyed. Nothing left but ocean debris. Understand?"

"I see," Luffy spoke up. Oh, so he does have a brain in that head of his? "So it's a 'Mystery Mountain', right?" I take that back.

"I don't think you understand at all," Nami sighed. "In any case, the ship's already riding one of those currents. So if we don't mess up our steering, we should make it up to Reverse Mountain in one piece."

"Nami-swan~ You're so awesome~" guess who complimented.

"I ain't even heard of that. Ships climbing mountains," Zoro sighed.

"I heard of something like that from one of those friendly pirates back on Tanoshi Island," I spoke up, still struggling with the helm with Usopp. "They said that the currents at the entrance are so strong that they actually climb over the Red Line."

"Really?!" Luffy asked, eyes sparkling.

"As for you Zoro, unless if you want to go across the Calm Belt to get to the Grand Line and get eaten by the Sea Kings, be our guest. I think there's a dingy somewhere on the ship you can use to get over there. If you can survive from the strong currents that is!"

"I think I'm better off being here," he said, scared of the decisions I gave him. As soon as he answered, rain fell on the ship.

"Sanji-kun, help us with the sails," Nami ordered.

"Yes~" he replied. "Luffy! Get your ass over here!" That said, we all did whatever we could to get to the canal.

"Hey! I can see the Mystery Mountain!" Luffy yelled, as we all got to the deck.

"Man! It's huge!" Usopp stated.

"The entrance to the Grand Line," Nami muttered.

"So that's the Red Line?" Luffy asked.

"Y-you c-can't even see the peak past the clouds!" our sharpshooter exclaimed. Our ship then got caught in another current.

"We're getting sucked in! Grab the helm!" Luffy ordered. Well, now he's being like a captain. "N-nami! Where's the entrance?! If we keep going like this, we'll hit the mountain!"

I looked long and hard at the mountain, trying to find the entrance. When I spotted a crask of some sort on the cliff, I quickly assumed that is the entrance to the Grand Line.

"Nami! Is it that crack on the cliff?" I asked her.

"Crack?" she asked, looking at the direction that I'm pointing at.

"Hey, Nami! What do we do?!" Usopp asked, as he and Sanji tried to steady the helm.

"Hold our path steady!" our navigator ordered.

"You sure?"

"Just do it!"

"Nami, is that it?" Luffy asked, landing next to her.

"Perhaps," Nami answered.

"Unreal," Zoro muttered, looking through the binoculars. "The water really is going up the mountain."

"Not at the Grand Line, yet we're seeing something that shouldn't be happening," I muttered in awe.

"Make sure we go straight between those gates, alright?" Nami ordered. "If we don't, the ship'll be smashed ot pieces."

Despite the hard effort, the ship is drifting to the left. "We're going off course! Go more to the right! Right! Right!" Luffy ordered.

"I'll help out!" I shouted, summoning Starlight. I went to the left side of the ship and pointed the tip in front, using a wind magic to move us over. "**Aeroga!**" The plan seems to be working, even though it's only a little bit working. Until we heard a 'CRACK' sound.

"THE HELM!" we all screamed, as Merry got back to going-to-crash-into-the-gate route.

"Xion! Can't you use a stronger wind magic?!" Nami asked.

"I would, but I can't master them!" I told her.

"What do you mean by 'can't master them'?!"

"Exactly what it means! I'm only good at basic and advance type of magic spells! I have yet to master any ultimate types!"

"So then..."

"The wind magic I'm using right now is my strongest at the moment!"

"That can't be!" our navigator screamed.

"**Gomu Gomu no Fuusen!**" Luffy shouted, jumping off the ship to save the Going Merry from being destroyed as well as changing its course.

"Luffy!" we all called.

"Luffy! Grab my hand!" Zoro ordered our captain, as the latter stretched out his hand to grab the swordsman's and rocketed himself back on the ship. With that, we all made it to the entrance in one piece without missing anyone.

"WE MADE IT!" all of us cheered.

"And now we'll just head straight for the peak!" Nami told us.

"Sweet! Hey! I wanna see it, too!" Luffy shouted, running to the front.

All of us couldn't wait for the adventure ahead of us, as we kept going up. The atmosphere around us was short-lived when we heard a familiar, unwelcome voice.

"You bastards!" We all turned to the voice and saw Erik. How did this guy get on our ship?

"The Okama Fruit guy..." Luffy identified.

"Bastard, you're still here?" Zoro asked, prepared to unsheathe one of his swords.

"You're so persistent," I stated.

"SHUT UP!" he yelled. "You have crossed the line for the last time. Thanks to you, my dream of obtaining the Ryuukotsu is gone! But I won't let it end like this! I will at least have the pleasure of taking that B30,000,000 head of yours and-!"

"**Summon: Komory Bat!**" I shouted, interrupting his little 'speech'. Fang did his screech attack on Erik, causing him to lose his balance and fall off the ship. "Nice one!" I complimented, receiving a screech of embarrassment from the bat.

"Since he's a hammer, he won't bother us anymore," Nami said.

"Even if he could swim, the current's just too choppy," Usopp added.

"That's my Xion-san~!" Sanji said. And since when was I his Xion?

"Hey! We made it to the clouds!" Luffy told us. "AWESOME! We went above the clouds!"

"It's getting harder to breathe up here, now that he mentioned it," I stated, holding my throat.

"It'll pass as soon as we go back down," Nami told me.

"I guess so."

"And look up there! It's the mountain peak!" When she announced that, it would mean one thing: we're almost at the Grand Line.

As we got to the top, we noticed that some of the sea water quickly turned to ice. I know Nami said that this is a winter islad, even though it's a mountain, but this is ridiculous. Then again, we'll see more ridiculous things from here on out. And once we cross this mountain, I'm getting back all the Dream Eaters that were left here and revive them all.

"I see it!" Luffy shouted from his 'special seat', which is actually the figure head. "I see the world's greatest ocean, Grand Line! And somewhere over there, One Piece is waiting! LET'S GO!"

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

* * *

**A/N: And that's a wrap, folks! For this story that is. The sequel is already up, guys. The title is SCP: Saving Alabasta. For those who are like Luffy or worse, insults not intended, SCP stand for Second Chance as a Pirate. See you in the sequel, readers! :)**


End file.
